The Pull
by untilmynextstory
Summary: The outlaw life was never easy, but for Jax it was. He never thought about the choices and consequences of his lifestyle not until Cheyenne Henderson came back to Charming. Book 1 of Almost Is Never Enough.
1. Take Me Back To The Start

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I promise, promise, promise this is the last rewrite for this story. I'm now completely satisfied with what I want to tell. So I hope you all enjoy the changes and the improvements I made. Please, please, please leave a review!

until then.

* * *

Jax hisses as the palm of his hand catches onto one of his mom's thorny rose bushes. He has half the nerve to kick the stupid thing, but he knows his mom loves her gardens and right now the last thing he wants is to upset her or give away that he has snuck out for another night.

However, he isn't under any illusion that his mom doesn't know about his midnight visits to Tara like he chooses to ignore Clay's constant presence since the two weeks his died passed away. He loves Clay, but right now he finds his presence overbearing. To a point it's suffocating, but his mom seems to appreciate him helping the transition that is going on with the family and club. Besides it wasn't as if Clay was the only patched member or family friend that had taken vigil in his home.

Jax leaps down from the fence while shaking his stinging hand. He has plans to crawl back through his window to his room when he freezes at the hunch figure on his back patio. For a moment he thinks it's his mother, who is probably going to tear him a new asshole for sneaking out to Tara's knowing there is a war with the Mayans. Listen to her rattle about how stupid he is making himself over some pussy. And he would let her knowing his mother is grieving for his father and still over his baby brother. He knows some wounds will never heal and Thomas' death is still raw for all of them.

Though, this figure doesn't possess the dominating presence his mother has. Besides, this person is crying, he can tell by the shake of the shoulders.

Jax then feels like a shitty friend.

He wasn't the only person who has lost something in the past two weeks.

Jax hesitating takes a step forward, his boots crush some dead leaves, and it's enough sound for him to be noticed.

He watches as Cheyenne hurriedly begins trying to wipe away her tears.

A week after his father died, her dad, Lionel, the best mechanic Teller Morrow had after Clay, had split with no warning. Her mom, Cheryl, overdosed on crank a few days later and was now in sedated detox.

Despite his mom grieving for his father, it didn't stop her from performing her duties as an Old Lady as she quickly had Cheyenne and her older brother, Phillip, over at their house to stay until they figured out what to do permanently.

"You probably think I'm stupid for crying over a junkie," she mutters breaking the silence.

Jax shakes his head and moves and takes a seat next to her on the steps of the patio. "No, at the end of the day, she's still your mother. Lionel's still your dad."

She takes a shaky breath at the mention of her father. Jax almost feels guilty as everyone has been on shaky ground with her when it came to her dad. There was no denying she was a daddy's girl and how much Lionel loved his daughter despite the problems that plagued the Henderson household. Jax could say it was the one thing he didn't understand about Lionel's disappearance. Jax knew Lionel would never just up and leave Phillip and Cheyenne, especially her. Junkie or not, Lionel was a father who loved his kids fiercely and would've least left a note. Just something for his little girl and if he was going to split, he wouldn't promise to take her to her soccer game the next weekend. He thinks for a girl at 12 years old, she has already seen too much suffering and pain their world brings.

"Your mom knows you're gone." She informs him.

"Figures," Jax snorts. Nothing can get past Gemma. At least he won't face the Spanish Inquisition now. Jax knows once the grief ebbs away into acceptance that he will need to be careful for a while. His mom never forgets anything and will surely use this against him if he pisses her off too much.

"Where's Lip?" Jax asks as he looks back into his dark house.

Now Cheyenne snorts. "He's with Nina, of course."

Jax chuckles at that. People thought him and Tara were crazy and wild. They obviously haven't been paying attention to Lip and Nina. Jax was sure he had never seen any two people so in lust with each other. He had already warned Lip at the rate him and Nina were going that she was wound to get pregnant. A baby was the last thing anyone in the Henderson family needed.

"How's Tara?" She asks.

With anyone else, Jax wouldn't be bothered to answer as he knows most around here, his mother and Clay, only ask questions to be polite and nosey as it's an open secret his mom doesn't care for his girlfriend. Yet with Cheyenne, he knows she generally cares about him and the people in his life. There's this part of him that thinks even at 15, he doesn't deserve this from Cheyenne.

"She's good. We're good." He tells her with a wide smile as he thinks back at how exactly good they are.

Cheyenne smiles at him oblivious to his hormonal thoughts. "At least you have someone."

Thoughts of Tara leave his mind as he looks back down at his young friend.

He knows that Cheyenne doesn't have many friends. Most of the time he finds her buried in a book, helping his mom cooking, or taking care of her mother. Sure she has Lip, but now with him and Nina being hot and heavy, he isn't the attentive brother he used to be. Jax frowns as he thinks about this. He brings his arm around her shoulder.

"Hey, you have me." He tells her because it's true. He knows no matter what happens tomorrow or years from now, she'll always have him.

Cheyenne nods her head, but then she crinkles her nose. "Are you bleeding?"

Jax pulls his arm back and shows her his hand. "Scraped it on a thorn."

"Ugh, come on." She tells him as she stands up.

Jax can't help but laugh as he knows she has aspirations to be nurse one day. "You know you should just become a doctor, Chey."

"I think a nurse would do just fine." She informs him as she opens his mom's sliding door beckoning him to go through.

Jax thinks with her here at his house it doesn't feel so heavy.

 **. . .**

It's been a few years since John Teller's death, her father's disappearance, and her mom's overdose. After her mom's last overdose, she was shipped off to SAMCRO rehab and it seemed that it was sticking. Yet, despite her mom's sobriety, Cheyenne still finds herself always by Gemma's side either at Teller Morrow or her house. After all, she and Lip do have a room at the now Teller Morrow residence. Like now and most days, Cheyenne is sitting at one of the picnic benches as she does her homework. Yet, she finds herself stuck on a math problem, looking around the lot, she finds most of the guys occupied in the garage and as she scans the lot she finds Jax's bike at the end recently embellished due to him completing his year as a Prospect.

Despite dropping out of school, Jax was still an intelligent man.

Grabbing her supplies, she makes her way into the clubhouse and as usual ignores the putrid smell of booze, smoke, leather, and sex. The place is empty outside of Piney snoozing at the bar with Kyle Hobart flirting with some croweater.

She makes the trek back to Jax's dorm room that is at the end of the hall. She knocks the door lightly and doesn't receive a response. She frowns and she suspects he might be sleeping as she knows Lip got home late last night and usually Lip and Jax are always on the same rotation for things.

She goes to walk away when she hears the toilet flush. She knocks again, but this time she opens the door. She finds his bed empty and walks further into the room and calls out his name. This time she hears the unmistakable sounds of retching. Cheyenne throws her stuff onto the bed and with his bathroom door already creaked open, she finds him bent over the rim of the porcelain toilet.

"Jax?"

He jumps startled at her voice and his bleary eyes connect to hers. They harden instantly. Cheyenne begins to regret walking into his room. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard you throwing up," she explains. She steps forward and goes to put a hand on his forehead, "Are you okay?" Instead of an answer he slaps away her hand startling them both.

Cheyenne feels almost betrayed. Even with his father's death, his nasty breakup with Tara, and now experiencing the stress of the club as a full patch with his father's legacy trailing after him like a bad smell, Jax has never once let his anger or frustration out on her. Cheyenne could say she was the only one who hadn't been on the receiving end of his anger.

Cheyenne can't hide the hurt from her face as she backs up away from him.

Jax instantly feels like shit more than he already does.

"Chey…wait," he calls out to her when she is halfway back into his dorm room. Despite his still queasy stomach he moves off the cold tiled floor of his bathroom and to his bed. He sits on the edge and peaks over to find her math book there. He feels even more like shit. He rubs his hands down his face and looks back up at her. At 15, Cheyenne still possessed a youthful glow with her wild black hair and grey eyes. However as he trailed her in a simple Charming High t-shirt and jean shorts paired with red Converses, he could see that pretty soon puberty was about to catch up with her turning her into a woman. Soon she wouldn't be hanging around the lot like a grease monkey or asking him for help with her homework.

He pats the spot next to him and she cautiously takes a seat. "I shouldn't have done that."

She nods her head. "Rough night?" She asks and her shoes kick at the white soiled shirt on the ground stained in red. He fights the bile that threatens to claw up his throat. He doesn't understand why he is so damn emotional about what happened. Lip didn't seem all that bothered by what they did. He seemed to just shrug it off and said goodbye before checking on Cheyenne and presumably spend his morning buried deep in Nina.

Jax on the other hand couldn't keep food or drink down. He felt repulsed by the croweaters and had a fitful sleep.

And now here was Cheyenne looking at him with so much concern. She was so innocent in all this. Sometimes he hoped that she would one day leave Charming and make a life outside of this. Even though he hated Tara for doing that to him, he could say he couldn't blame her for not wanting to become his mother.

He looks at her with his tortured blue eyes and shakes his head. Maybe he needs to get laid.

"Jax?"

"I killed a man last night," he lets slip pass his lips. And he knows he shouldn't burden a 15 year old with that type of knowledge, but if there is anyone he could tell it would be her. He doesn't want to go to his mom and have her extreme coddling and he feels he can't share this with Opie or Lip.

She doesn't say anything. Her eyes or face don't give away anything. Instead, she grabs his hand. The same hand that held a gun and pulled a trigger.

A week later, it's Christmas. They're throwing the usual party at his mom's house. It's the family orientated dinner. It's just family and friends – no hangarounds or croweaters. Jax is throwing back some Eggnog as he talks to Opie, who has Donna snug in his side, and Lip and Nina are nowhere to be found, which means Nina is likely somewhere on her back.

Cheyenne comes up by his side and tugs on the sleeve of his sweater. She's all dolled up in a long-sleeved red velvet shirt that shows a sliver of her toned stomach and in a white poufy skirt. She looks older than her 15 years and Jax thinks that's dangerous. Yet, he lets her steal him away for whatever she wants to show him and she leads him back to her room at his mom's.

"So I just wanted to give this to you now away from prying eyes." She tells him as she holds up a small silver box. They had already exchanged gifts this morning with her giving him some riding gear. He got her some books and albums he knew she would like. So now he is genuinely curious as she seems nervous.

"Must be something special," he says as he begins to unwrap it.

Cheyenne shrugs her shoulders.

He takes out the small box and wiggles it. He guesses its jewelry.

He risks a glance at Cheyenne and she is nibbling on her lip. "Chey, whatever it is. I'm sure I'm going to love it." He assures her.

He throws the wrapper in her garbage and opens the lid to the box.

Inside rests the silver shell of an AK 47 bullet on a chain.

He takes the necklace out and it dangles from his fingers. He knows the significance behind this gift.

"Do you like it?"

He nods his head. "I love it, Chey." He tells her as he puts it around his neck.

She's still unsure as she gives him a small smile. He brings her into a tight hug.

"Thanks, Chey."

. . .

After completing a 6 month stint in Chino, Jax is doing the one thing he has wished to do since he became a temporary residence to Chino's Correctional Facility, which was to ride his bike.

Considering it was a Tuesday, his official welcoming home party wasn't happening until Friday night after church. Considering club business was slow, he found himself with some free time to just ride around Charming and other friendly areas.

He was driving back to Charming to hit up Main Street to grab some lunch. He was a block away from Main when he found the one person he didn't expect to be out and about at this time considering they should be at school. He slows down and pulls up besides Cheyenne Henderson, now 16 years old and a force to be reckoned with in school as she becomes more mature. Considering Chino was a 6 hour drive, he only saw Cheyenne once a month as she become busier with school and after school activities. So it was a shock to his system to see such a studious girl cutting class.

At first she just glances at him just thinking he is nobody before she does a double take and realizes it's him. Her eyes become bright and she smiles wide at him.

"You're out!" She exclaims as she rushes up to him and gives him a hug.

"Yeah," he tells her and for old time sake he ruffles with her long black hair, which annoys her as she slaps away his hand.

"Hey, stop that." She scolds as she fixes her hair that she perfectly styled. He remembers when she used to just wear ponytails with no thought or care into her appearance.

"Why you cutting class?" He asks her bluntly.

At his question, her face drops and she looks away. She doesn't seem keen on answering. "Chey?"

"It's nothing, Jax." She tries to deflect.

"If it was nothing, I'm pretty sure you would've called my mom to sign you out." He says. After her mom got cleaned, she bailed to Seattle with no thought to her kids. From what his mom said, the woman barely even writes to them. His eyes narrow, "Is it some boy?"

"What! No!" She tells him and as she crosses her arms across her chest. It's only then he gets sight of her red hand.

He snatches her hand and looks at the red and irritated knuckles. "You're getting into fights now?" He say with a frown as this was out of character for her.

"I'm not starting them," she says defending herself.

"So how are they starting?" Jax asks and he knows this has been going on for a while. When he sees Lip he is going to have a nice chat with her brother for not being aware of what's going on with his sister.

"It's just the girls. I try to ignore them, but they just say stuff."

"Like what?"

"About my parents, the club, or how I'm sleeping around with all of you guys." She informs him, but then she smiles. "It's kind of ironic as they call me a whore, but then make fun of me for not having a boyfriend."

"You shouldn't let them get to you."

"I try not to, but it's hard Jax." She tells him. "They're all so pretty and have their boyfriends…and all I have are books."

"That's bullshit, Chey, and you know it." Jax was going to tell her she didn't need to be messing around with hormonal teenage boys anyway. But Jax had no idea what it was like to be a teenage girl and he didn't think it would conductive to this argument.

"Is it, Jax? No one at school seems to notice me and I've never even kissed a boy before." She whispers scandalized and a bit embarrassed.

Jax looks at her and thinks the boys at her school are idiots. Cheyenne was smart, beautiful, and clearly going places with her life.

He also knew that some of the boys that did have interest only got blocked because of Lip and sometimes him and Opie, but he wasn't going to admit that. As he looked at her, with her full lips, curly hair, and grey eyes, he saw the face of a woman. She wasn't the 12 year old girl that he found crying on his steps.

Without thinking, he pulls her closer to him. She's about to turn 17 and he's only 19 on the cusp of 20. So he doesn't feel too much like a Chester besides it will only be a kiss.

She looks at him with a raised eyebrow, "Jax what are you doing?"

He doesn't say anything, but brings her in front of him. Her body almost flushed against his and begins to lean his head down.

"Jax –"

"Shh," he says as his hands cup her cheeks. She smells like Vanilla and Raspberry. And he thinks he might be making a huge mistake. He knows he is, but it doesn't stop him from meeting her lips.

She doesn't respond immediately. Her lips are frozen, but he wins her over when she presses more into his body. The kiss is soft and innocent. Something he hasn't had in god who knows how many years. He doesn't understand how something this simple and sweet could be intoxicating. He knows he should pull back and keep things between them easy and simple.

But he can't help but deepen the kiss, which she lets him, as his tongue dances with her. He almost doesn't care that they're in public on a street where anyone can see.

Her hands slide past his shoulders into his hair as she settles more into him. It isn't until she moans against his mouth that he remembers the last time he had physical contact was six months ago. He knows if things continue this way, reservation and consequences be damned, it could lead to trouble for both of them.

Pulling back he looks into her eyes that are the silver he sees in the moonlight. Nothing is said between them. He only hands her his helmet and she sits on the back of his bike.

. . .

Jax has hit a sort of epiphany as he nears his 21st birthday. He knows the name Teller holds a lot of weight in his world and recently he knows he hasn't been doing his dad justice. However, at the same time he is more than just his father's son. He also knows that he is still trying to recover from the very public break up he had with Tara almost two years ago now. He knows he wants to be something other than a legacy.

So he began throwing himself into the club. Going on as a many runs as possible and really spend some time with Clay as his President than stepfather. He really was trying to learn the club business.

He also tries to tell himself that he wasn't throwing himself into Club business because of what transpired between him and Cheyenne. They both hadn't spoken of that moment and she seemed fine with it, but he wasn't. Now he had guilt for pulling away from their friendship. With her now nearing 18, he only had a year before she left for college and soon she would move on from Charming and him.

His mom was out shopping with Luann; Clay was at the clubhouse, so he knew the house would be empty except for Cheyenne. He pulls into the driveway and enters the home as he twirls his keys around his finger and eyes the place. Sometimes he misses the cleanliness of his mom's house since he moved into the dorms. He walks into the dining room where he finds presumably Cheyenne's bag out in the open. He doesn't mean to snoop, but he peaks over into it and his heart jumps into his throat as he spies familiar looking foil packages. His head snaps up as he hears padding down the hallway.

Coming into his view, he finds Cheyenne coming down wearing a very short _short_ skirt with a black and white long sleeve shirt tucked into it. His eyes droop low to the thigh high socks that go past her knees.

His eyebrows furrow, "Where are you going?"

Cheyenne plants her hands on her hips, a pair of heels in her left hand. "Hi, it's nice to see you too."

She sits down at the table and begins putting on her heels.

"You going somewhere?" He questions as he eyes the back of her head and tries to recall when he has ever seen her in anything other than Converses. He knows this outfit is courtesy of his mother and Luann.

"Actually, I am." She tells him.

"Where?"

She rolls her eyes at his tone. "Is that any of _your_ business?"

"You should make it _my_ business." He counters back.

Cheyenne is visibly taken back by this response as she leans back in her chair. She opens her mouth to respond, but the doorbell rings. Jax beelines it to the door.

"Jax!" He hears squealed from behind him as she tries to race him to the door. But he beats her.

Opening it, he finds a boy on the other side dressed up nice with flowers in his hand. Brown curly hair and in Jax's conclusion looks a bit like a nerd, but he can see the muscles outlined. Jax can tell the boy knows who he is, but Jax doesn't like the fact he doesn't know who he is.

"Who are you?" He asks menacingly as he stands taller.

Before the kid can answer, Jax finds himself being pushed out of the way by Cheyenne. She shots him an annoyed look before she turns and smiles at the boy and graciously accepts the flowers.

She turns back at him and forces a fake smile in his direction, "Jax, this is Mason. Mason, this is Jax."

"That still doesn't explain who he is." Jax bites out.

"Mason, do you mind waiting in the car. I'm going to put these in a vase and grab my purse and I'll be right out."

"Sure," the boy agrees without argument. Cheyenne pushes him out of the way and Jax glares at the boy before shutting the door.

"God, what is your problem, Jax." Cheyenne mutters.

"Who is he?" Jax asks before he takes one last look at the boy through the blinds.

"Like you couldn't tell. He's my boyfriend." She informs as she grabs one of his mom's vases and fills it with water.

"Boyfriend?" Now that was fucking news to him. "Since when?"

"For a few months now."

Jax's brows furrows as no one informed him of this news. "Does my mom know?"

"Yes, Jax, everyone knows." She tells him pointedly.

This news doesn't settle well in his gut and he doesn't know why he feels a jealous heat settle into his bones. "Everyone know you're fucking him?"

Cheyenne's mouth drops open at his question. She looks down at her bag and snatches it quickly. She doesn't even give him a response as she leaves the house.

. . .

They're on the edge of the Wahewa land.

It's August, it's hot and sticky, and Cheyenne's arms ache.

However, Jax insisted they brush up on her skills before she left Charming where she would be without SAMCRO.

They had been out here an hour as she shot with Jax's Glock. It was a painful reminder of the life she grew up in and how Jax and her brother made a living.

"You keep locking your arms," Jax tells her from the side where he watches her.

Cheyenne didn't think she was terrible. In fact, she thinks she is decent, but after an hour she is beginning to feel tired. He walks over to her and stands behind her. His arms come around hers to steady them; she didn't realize she was trembling either.

"Breathe," he says into her ear, his breath fanning across her neck. The closeness makes her shiver. "Visualize your target and look through your sight," he instructs. "Breathe. Inhale. Fire. Exhale." This time she hits the target dead center. "See you got it."

Cheyenne turns her head and looks at him and she realizes they haven't been this close since their kiss. She moves back from him. "Yeah. only because of you."

"I can't take all the credit." He tells her with a smile as she hands him back his gun.

"Well I'm hungry let's eat."

To eat they walk down to the stream where it's a little bit cooler and enjoy their simple lunch of a sandwich and chips. However, Cheyenne knows she shouldn't be surprised when Jax pulls out a bottle of Jack.

"You know that you do have to drive back later." She informs him pointedly.

"I need one last drink with my drinking partner." He says as he opens it and takes a generous swing.

Cheyenne rolls her eyes, but takes a sip of the burning liquid.

They toss the bottle back and forth talking about old times from when he still had to go trick or treating with her. They remembered when Gemma forced him, Opie, and Lip to sit still for her to paint their nails and do their makeup, and all the innocence moments of childhood. Soon the memories of sticky fingers and cheesy photos turn serious as it leads to the present. Her parents both gone, Opie and Donna now married with a baby on the way, and now her own brother has knocked up his on and off girlfriend. It seems they are the only two not attached to anybody.

"I'm scared to leave him now that he is becoming a father." She admits to Jax. She knows her brother is going to be a great dad, but he and Nina are not exactly ever in a good place for a child to be brought into.

"I'll look out for them plus my mom won't let him fuck up." Jax promises.

"Yeah, but even with Nina's problems she's family now too. I just hope your mom doesn't go to crazy on her."

Jax snorts. Lip and Cheyenne were practically like a son and daughter to his mom and she treated Nina the same way she did Tara. He thought there was nothing Nina could do to ever get in his mom's good graces.

Jax takes a swing of the depleting bottle. "You be careful down there too. Especially when it comes to guys."

"Jax –"

"I'm serious." He says. He knows her break up with Mason wasn't exactly smooth due to other kids and just because she still felt the sting of that didn't mean a guy wouldn't enter the picture eventually.

"I don't think…Boys aren't even on my radar. Nursing school is going to be hard."

"I'm just saying be careful is all." He tells her with something that is anything but brotherly concern.

"Or what you're going to have Juice put a tracking device on me?" She teases.

"Don't tempt me."

She laughs loudly and god he thinks she is beautiful. Now, she's leaving and he didn't expect it to hurt so fucking much. His eyes trail to those lips and he wonders if they are still soft as he remembers. And as she laughs her eyes twinkle, not grey, but silver, he can't help but lean in and before she knows it, he presses his lips urgently against hers in a hot kiss.

It escalates quickly and Cheyenne finds herself being pushed onto the soft grass. His hand traces the flat of her stomach as they dip near her ribs and the underwire of her bra.

They both know they should stop and pull back from whatever line they are crossing.

He separates their lips and there's the question in his eyes and statements that neither of them will never admit. At least not now or possibly ever. They would weigh too much with her departure in a few weeks.

Instead, she lets him pull up her tank over her bra and fondle her breasts as she tangles her fingers into his hair. He yanks off her top completely and the blood rushes into his ears as her hands sneak between them and down into his pants where she tugs him rigid. Jax makes quick work of removing her shorts and shoes leaving her just in simple peach color classic lace floral thong.

Jax leans back and admires the simple get up. He's always used to seeing girls in dark colors reds and black. But Cheyenne usually sticks to cool colors, blues and grays with the occasional white. Cheyenne tucks her hand in the band of his boxers and pulls them down to his knees, and he makes quick work of removing them completely along with his shirt.

Cheyenne's heart beat goes rapid at the sight of Jax completely bare to her. Growing up around the club and despite being close to Jax, she has been exposed to and heard many things about him. Seeing it in person is a completely different experience.

She is quick to remove her bra as he pulls her panties down her thighs and discards them like the rest of their clothing. He eases her thighs open, smearing his slick manhood against her. She moans, as he presses inside her, the sting of him stretching her is an delicious pain as it makes her feel full. "Please, Jax," she groans against his skin.

"Please what darlin'?" He asks in a low octave. "What do you need?"

"I need you to fuck me."

He does.

Jax is laying on his back while Cheyenne is on her side with her eyes closed. With her skin clammy, Cheyenne knows she should make the move to clean the mess between her thighs. Her legs feel like jelly though and she doesn't want to ruin this moment of whatever this is and what just happened.

She hears Jax shift and his fingers come to the tips of her hair.

"I'll miss you." He admits to her.

Her eyes spring open and connect to his blue ones.

"I'll miss you too."


	2. Graduation

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Decided to reward you guys with another chapter. So far the response to the changes seem to be going good. I love reading reviews as they do motivate me. Also I'm sorry to the reviewer that doesn't like the name Cheyenne. Originally I had it to Emma, but it sounded too similar to Gemma. And since the Russian backstory is no longer relevant to this story, I felt I needed to change the name from Halina and it was easy to write without all the history I had before attached to that name.

And this chapter and like the first 10 chapters of this story is all pre-series.

until then.

* * *

 **PART 1: REVELATIONS**

"When you came back it was like some sort of sign to me."

* * *

 _May 2008_

9 years later, Cheyenne is back to her childhood hometown. Despite everyone's thoughts, a part of her knew that she would return to Charming.

She smiles at her brother, who is talking a mile a minute, and can't contain his excitement about her returning home.

Lip, now 30 years old, was a total different man than the one she left when she was 18. The 9 years she was gone hadn't been easy on her brother.

With Nina's pregnancy, it resulted in Lip also marrying her. The two of them found themselves parents to her niece, Isla Marie Henderson. Cheyenne always worried about the toxicity of the relationship, but her concern grew with a baby added in the mix. Except fatherhood had changed her brother for the better. After five years of failed tries of sobriety, Lip had finally separated himself from his wife and became a full time father.

Yet even five years of separation and living in a different house, it seemed that it still wasn't enough for Lip to take the final move in officially filing for divorce.

She knows it's because despite Nina's addiction and empty guilt ridden promises, he loves her. She is the mother of his child.

But she knows that his love her his daughter and her happiness means more to him than anything. Plus despite Isla growing up with a flaky mother, her now 9 year old niece was one of the brightest girls in Charming. Lip tells her all the time how his daughter was just like her as he shuffles her back from school, gymnastics, and dance recitals.

Cheyenne still laughs thinking about SAMCRO attending all of Isla's events. She knows her niece has the club wrapped around her fingers.

It's why Cheyenne is sort of glad that she will be living with her brother until she is more settled. Even with constant phone calls, messaging, and holiday visits, she feels as if she doesn't really know her niece. She feels as if she hasn't really been there for her and she hopes with being back in Charming she can really be an aunt.

Carrying one of the few boxes of her possessions, she places it down on the bed in her new, but old room. "I can't believe you bought this place."

With his relationship with Nina constantly in the shitter, Lip couldn't resist the urge in buying their old childhood home. The place their mom and dad had when they were kids. Cheyenne wasn't under any delusions about her parents. Her mom and father were both junkies, but she knew they were loved in some warped way. Cheyenne knew her father loved her. And there were 12 years of happy and good memories along with the bad.

"It seemed fitting." He tells her.

Cheyenne smiles at her brother. Big and muscular with tattoos covering his arms that peak out from his short sleeve. Lip was an imposing figure. It wasn't surprising the club took advantage of his size and physique for underground fights.

"You sure moving back to Charming is the best thing for your career?" Lip asks her for the first time since she told him she was coming back.

"Sounds like you don't want me here."

"No, I just don't want you to feel as if you're tied down to this place."

"I missed my family besides if I didn't want to be back here I wouldn't. Plus I know you're going to need help with Isla." She says.

"She's a perfect little angel." He says. "Don't know where she gets it from." He says and that proud smile dims just a little.

"How's Nina?"

He shrugs his shoulders. "Same as always. She lost her job like 6 months ago, so I've been paying for that on top of her living expenses. I think divorce is the only option now."

"I'm sorry, Lip."

"Don't be. I can say I tried and I really did love her. She's the one who fucked it all up. I can't forgive her for doing this to Isla. Sometimes it makes me hate mom and dad even more."

"Have you talked to our mother?" Cheyenne asks.

Lip shakes her head. "Not since she got remarried. It's funny she was able to build this whole life for herself, but didn't give a shit about us."

"Maybe because we remind her of dad."

"You would think that would be why she would've loved us."

Cheyenne shakes her head as she thinks about her mom. She was glad she was clean for ten years now. It was an accomplishment. She didn't like how with this sobriety her mom forgot about her own two kids. But she has become used to the absence of her mother since she was 12. It's not like she is exactly missed. Besides when her mother bailed on them, Gemma stepped up to take her place.

"How's the club?"

"Same old, same old." He tells her. "They are excited for the party."

"They are excited by any excuse for a party."

Lip laughs. "Maybe."

...

A couple hours later, Cheyenne finds herself standing in front of a mirror in jeans that are two sizes to small and a cropped red shirt. It's the most scandalous thing she has worn in a while. She's only wearing it because of Fawn Trager practically forcing it on her.

Despite a couple hundred miles between them, Fawn Trager was still her best friend and probably her only friend. Both raised by the club, yet Fawn was more open with her distaste of it especially to her father. Yet, the brunette never made plans to leave Charming.

However, Cheyenne thinks it has to do more so with her brother in why Fawn sticks around. With her gone at school and Nina either in rehab or passed out in her own vomit, Fawn had easily stepped in to help Lip manage being a single father.

It started with going clothes shopping, taking Isla to her dance practices, homework, and the occasional dinner nights. Somehow, she knows it morphed into more, which neither of them had admitted to her. Yet, she could just tell.

"I'm so happy your back. Although I don't know why you came back to this shithole."

Cheyenne rolls her eyes. "I don't think me being here is going to change anything. I'm a working woman now after all."

"Still…I missed you." Fawn admits.

Cheyenne turns and looks at her friend. "Fawn, if you're so unhappy here, why don't you leave."

"Because it's home." Fawn stands up and places her hands on her shoulders. "So no man down in San Diego?"

"Unless we're talking about my patients, no."

"At all? I thought doctors had a thing for nurses. I mean I'm pretty sure a little male nurse would have loved to tap your ass."

"Oh my god," Cheyenne says as she groans.

"Well, I know for sure there is one person excited to see you."

"Yeah, who?" Cheyenne asks curious.

"A certain VP."

Cheyenne freezes at the mention of Jax. Since that day on the Wahewa land their interactions have been sparse and when she would be home club business interfered and she found most of her days taken up with Isla.

"You're being ridiculous," she tells her friend.

"Am I though? " Fawn asks.

Despite being best friends and sharing everything together, Cheyenne's interactions with Jax were something she kept close to her chest. They were something just between him and her.

The conversation is interrupted however when she hears the front door to the house open and a loud exclamation of Aunt Cheyenne.

Cheyenne walks into the hallway and Isla is already running down the hallway ready to greet her with a tight hug.

"Oh my god, you are getting so tall." Cheyenne gushes.

Isla looks at her with a wide smile, "I'm so glad your back."

Cheyenne hugs her niece tightly. Now 9 years old, she could tell her niece was going to be a beautiful woman. Tall with long brown hair and green eyes and as she admired her it was obvious that the little girl looked like her mother. She wondered how Lip was able to handle that. At least, it seemed to be the only thing Isla inherited from Nina.

"I'm glad to be back too. I promise tomorrow that we will have the whole day to ourselves." She promises her. "You can show me some of that cool gymnastic stuff and some dance moves."

Isla smiles brightly at her and gives her another hug.

...

As Cheyenne gets closer to the clubhouse, she finds herself becoming incredibly nervous. Outside of her holiday break visits, she really hasn't been around the club in 9 years. She was now 27 years old and wasn't the same teenager girl that left.

Growing up around the club, she never really thought about the life she was surrounded in. She never really thought about the consequences of her family being outlaw bikers. Leaving Charming and living somewhere new, she didn't realize how isolated Charming was because of the club. She didn't think it was necessarily a bad thing, but it was jarring for her first semester to see how she was raised so differently than her peers.

She knows coming back to burner cells and gossip is going to be something she is going to have to get used to. As she nears the lot, she can hear the music and pulling into the lot, Gemma didn't waste the opportunity in decorating the lot. She pulls into lot and finds a spot that is already designated for her car. Lip and Fawn pull in behind her.

Taking a deep breath she exits her car to the shout and cheers of the club. Gemma and Luann are the first ones to greet her.

She is wrapped in a warm embrace by Gemma and she didn't realize how much she missed her until right now. "Welcome home, sweetheart."

Cheyenne smiles and soon finds Luann wanting her attention. Unlike Gemma's reserved demeanor, Luann is warm and bubbly.

Soon she finds herself on the receiving end of many hugs and kisses on the cheek by leather clad bikers until she reaches the last one: the Vice President of the Sons of Anarchy.

He hasn't changed much, but at the same time he has.

His hair was longer and of course the patches on his chest were different. Yet those blue eyes were the same along with his infamous smile.

Her arms wrap around him easily and she thinks this is the coolest they been since Wahewa.

Jax returns her hug tightly.

She's no longer the 18 year old girl he remembers or even the girl that came back on breaks. He thinks it's been at least a year since they last saw each other. As the years passed by, he became more invested in the club and once he became Vice President, his time was consumed by bigger responsibilities other patches didn't have. Outside of quick hugs and holiday and birthday cards, in 9 years there was hardly any interaction. He inhales and he smiles as she still smells like vanilla and raspberries. His hold tightens on her for a fraction before he loosens his grip. She rewards him with a smile before Lip whisks her away and shows her off.

...

Jax watches from a picnic bench as Cheyenne plays the polite social butterfly. It's a role he isn't used to seeing from her as she would always stick to the background. He was used to her just sticking near Opie and Donna and sometimes him before he became distracted by his flavor of the week.

He knows most thought she wasn't going to come back to Charming. As Lip regaled the guys about how she was doing in school and her internships, he thought she would stay down in San Diego or go somewhere where her skills and knowledge could take her. He feels being in Charming working at St. Thomas would only stifle her.

Yet, he knows people like Lip and his mom is happy to have her back. He knows Lip missed her the most. Jax thinks it's the guilt from feeling like he wasn't the world's best brother. He knows his mom just missed having someone around that wasn't as bubbly as Luann and air headed like the croweaters. It wasn't as if Donna or Fawn went out of their way to hang out with her.

Speaking of the devil spawn, he watches as Fawn creeps her way over to him. For someone who hates Charming, Fawn still hasn't left the place. Despite Cheyenne's homecoming, he is surprised Tig's oldest daughter is even on the lot with her father standing a few feet away. He doesn't understand how Tig won't even try to break some ground with his daughter. Instead, he just lets the girl stew in her bitterness about this lifestyle. Jax thinks Fawn hates her father as much as she loves him. That's why she is still in Charming even if she won't admit it to herself. But Jax wasn't about to give himself a headache thinking about the Trager drama as the black haired devil spawn flashes him a predatory smile.

"Told you she would be different." She whispers as she moves to sit next to him and looks in his line of sight.

Cheyenne is in a deep conversation with Juice and Jax thinks their Technical advisor is an idiot. The man can't even keep his eyes above Cheyenne's neckline. Jax isn't going to act like he is some man of virtue as the 9 years away from Charming has done Cheyenne some good. She's now a woman with curves that he doesn't remember when she was 18. Her tight jeans and cropped red shirt accentuates this fact nicely. However, he isn't going to be so obvious in his appraisal like Juice is.

Instead, he turns back to Fawn, who is only smirking at him. "Why are you over here? Isn't Lip waiting for you in a dark corner?"

Fawn ignores the dig of the open secret about her and Lip as she rolls her eyes. "I think I should be asking you the same thing as why you're sitting here when you clearly want to be over there."

Jax clenches his jaw and he wonders why Fawn is even pestering him and where did she even get these suspicions about him and Cheyenne.

He tries to think if he has acted any differently since the news was confirmed about her impending return, but he knows he hasn't.

"What do you want Fawn?"

She shrugs her shoulders innocently and turns back to the scene of Juice and Cheyenne talking by the bar they put outside.

"I think Juice is taken with Cheyenne."

Jax growls and gets up from his place on the picnic bench and walks towards Cheyenne and Juice. He ignores Fawn's cackling in the background.

He makes it to the bar and quickly shoos away a croweater. Jax almost rolls his eyes at the goofy smile that Juice shoots Cheyenne's way. Jax leans against the bar silent as Juice listens to Cheyenne talk about her schooling. He knows Juice isn't a prospect, but he revels in how his eyes go back and forth from him to Cheyenne as it slowly dawns on him that Jax wishes to speak to Cheyenne privately.

Juice excuses himself and Cheyenne turns around and shakes her head at him. "I see you haven't changed at all."

Jax flashes a smile. "I have no idea what you mean by that."

She shoots him a look clearly remembering his attitude towards Mason before a reluctant smile takes over her face.

Jax turns his front to the bar and moves closer to Cheyenne. He isn't surprised to discover that 9 years apart she still is a tiny little thing.

"So are you enjoying the party?" He asks her.

She nods her head. "Actually I am, but things are different now."

"Good different?"

She shrugs her shoulders. "Home is home, right?" Jax nods at her statement. "How's Donna?"

Jax sighs at the thought of Opie's very angry wife. Thankfully Opie was soon about to finish he last few months of his five year sentence. He knew the most challenging part for Opie will be the coming home and reintegrating back to society.

"I invited her, but she has iced everyone out. I wouldn't take it personal."

"Must be hard for her though, five years is a long time with two kids."

"At least he's coming home."

"To an angry wife," Cheyenne points out.

"I can think of some worse things to go home to. So I hear you're now Dr. Henderson. Nursing school didn't work out for ya?"

"Nursing was just too easy. Had to make it hard for myself."

"OBGYN, right?"

"That's the plan. I'm going to complete my residency here which will take about a year and half if all things go as planned." She informs him.

"You sure Charming is the best place to do that?"

She looks at him with furrowed brows, "Why wouldn't it be?"

Jax opens his mouth, but their conversation is interrupted by Tig throwing his arm around her shoulder causing her to slosh her drink over its rim.

"We're about to start a game, sweetheart, and if I recall you were the best player we've ever seen."

Cheyenne throws him a smile as she is led away by Tig to the pool table.

Jax turns back around and watches as the game of poll stakes are raised with her appearance. Jax shakes his head; he imagines she has only gotten better at being a shark. College is expensive after all.

He flags down a croweater to hand him another beer and finds he needs to distract himself with something else than Cheyenne bending over a pool table in tight jeans.

He is nursing his beer when a heavily intoxicated Lip bumps into his shoulders. Jax finds the large burly man's arm wrapped around his shoulders as he shakes him.

"What the hell man," Jax mutters as his beer bottle topples over.

"My fucking baby sister is back and a fucking doctor. Can you believe that shit!" Lip proclaims to him.

Despite being annoyed with lip over his spilled beer, he lets the man have it. These past 9 years hadn't been easy on his friend. Jax thinks if it wasn't for Isla Lip would be a total drunken mess. Yet, despite having Isla, Jax can see the fear in his eyes that Nina's worst traits might get passed down onto his daughter, who is the spitting image of his estranged wife. Plus it didn't help that both Lip and Cheyenne had major fuck ups for parents and Lip feared Isla was destine to follow that path as long as she was in Charming. And through this happy deposition of his sister's return, he knew that Lip was scared Cheyenne wouldn't be able to escape her parent's fate.

"Maybe you should slow down, man," Jax says as Lip sways on his feet. After all, he still needed to go home to his daughter not completely drunk.

"Oh fuck, I can't go home to Isla like this." Lip says as he sits on the bar stool. "I've been drinking to fucking much."

Jax grips his friend's shoulder. He wasn't one to judge any man with how they handled pain and guilt. Jax knows that there is drama brewing between him and Nina as it seemed Lip was finally done dealing with her bullshit. He knew the two of them were not talking since her last overdose. "I'll make sure Cheyenne makes it home."

"Thanks man." Lip says.

…

After playing socialite for two hours, Cheyenne can see that the party is about to take a turn for the more scandalous. She bids a goodbye to Gemma and Luann with a promise of a lunch date and finds her brother at the bar with Jax. His eyes are bloodshot and he can barely manage to hold up his weight on his feet.

"You're clearly having a lot of fun." Cheyenne points out to her brother.

"Maybe a little too much," he responds.

"I take it you're staying here for the night?"

"Jax said he would take you home." Lip says slapping the man's shoulder.

"Did he," Cheyenne says. "Well, drink some water and wear a condom."

Lip's face scrunches up. "Gross, I'm not talking about sex with my sister."

Cheyenne rolls her eyes and places a kiss on her brother's cheek. "I'll see you in the morning."

…

With Jax following her on his bike, they reach home in 15 minutes. She parks her car alongside Neeta's and Jax parks behind her.

Cheyenne doesn't expect him to actually follow her up to the steps and even inside as she bids Neeta a goodbye. Cheyenne places her keys on the rack and removes her heels and turns to look at Jax, who is leaning against the door.

For some reason she feels like a teenager again. Despite the history and the things the two of them had, she never lusted after Jax as most women did in Charming. It didn't mean she was blind and there was the fact they did sleep together once.

Some days she could still feel his lips against hers and the feel of him inside, but she knows nothing good can come of those thoughts and memories.

Being with Jax means accepting all of him and the burdens he carries.

Before she can say something to break the silence, he does it for her.

"I'm really glad you're back, Chey." He tells her and sometimes she finds herself privileged that she can see this side of Jax that can reveal bits and pieces of his emotions like he did when they were kids.

Cheyenne wraps him in a hug and she didn't expect to miss the smell of leather, nicotine, and sandalwood so much.


	3. Family

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** As always thanks for the reviews and follows. I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story so far. Also, I wanted to say something about Jax before we get further into the story. I hope he doesn't come across as OOC, but I imagined before the birth of Abel and finding the manuscript that Jax was more than content with the outlaw life in a way. He was more light-hearted and not burden by too many things _yet_. In this story I am hoping I can show a better job of the progression of the darker Jax we end up with in the later seasons. I feel in previous versions of this story I didn't really do that or show it with more original content interlaced with the canon.

until then.

* * *

Cheyenne wakes up early. She's used to working 12 hour shifts and really just having haywire hours. Sleeping in wasn't a luxury she had allowed herself in recent months as she worked hard to punch in as many hours to complete her residency.

Despite coming home late in the night from her party and the alcohol that made her feel slightly fuzzy, she still finds herself up bright and early getting ready to make breakfast. She thinks maybe she should've asked Neeta to stay until the morning as she did miss the woman's breakfast.

She's thawing out the bacon and sausage while she cracks some eggs and begins to scramble them. She has biscuits warming in the oven. She had even cut up some fruit.

She has just thrown the eggs on the griddle when the front door opens.

She watches and does her best to suppress the giggle that threatens to escape her lips at the sight of her brother hungover. Eyes so bloodshot that she is surprised he can even see. But as he looks at her, tired and a sleepy smile, she is reminded of their father. She remembers similar scenes with their dad back from a bender or club party, disheveled and hungover or going through withdrawal. Her mom still annoyed by their fight days prior would always sigh with relief that at least he was back home until he wasn't. Her dad and Lip were spitting images of each other, both tall and muscular. People still can't decide if she looks more like her mom or dad.

"I hope you didn't drive here like this," she scolds gently.

He runs his hand through his close cropped brown hair as he finds a seat at the breakfast bar. "I didn't. The Prospect dropped me off."

"I hope you gave him a tip," she remarks as she places a steamy cup of black coffee in front of him.

He takes a long sip of the scolding beverage and she is slightly concerned that he burned his taste buds. But considering the scars that are well hidden beneath her brother's tattoos, she is sure hot coffee is the least painful thing that has happened to him since he joined the club.

"I'm sorry," he says after half the cup is gone.

"It's okay. You're allowed to let loose a little." Cheyenne is under no illusion that fatherhood has been easy for her brother. She knows it's been hard for him becoming a father and husband at the age of 20 and dealing with family issues and the club is always a tiring combination.

"I missed you so fucking much, Chey." He tells her. "I fucking worried about you down there by yourself."

She reaches for his hand across the table and squeezes it. "But I'm back now. Home for good."

"I know I've been a shitty brother –"

"Lip, stop –"

"No, I'm serious. You always had Opie or Jax there for you."

Cheyenne walks around the bar to stand in front of him. "Let's not go there, Lip. It's fine. Stop stressing about the past. I never thought of you as a crappy brother."

Lip pinches his eyes together as he nods his head. "You're right. Sorry."

"There's no need to apologize."

"You're right, but Chey?"

"Yeah."

"You're burning your eggs."

"Oh shit." Cheyenne exclaims as she runs back to the stove.

…

After taking her niece to the movies, Cheyenne and Isla find themselves back in Charming at First Watch café. Isla hasn't stopped smiling since they left the house early in the morning after breakfast.

Despite the smile that adorns both of their faces; she knows that she has missed so much of her niece's life. While at school, she missed her niece learning how to talk and walk. She wasn't able to help her with homework or even watch some of her dance recitals. She knows Lip has done his best and a very fine job in raising her, but Fawn, Neeta, and Gemma weren't Isla's mother or even blood. She was and she hates to think of herself as a distant aunt but that was what she was.

"You're going to be here for a while right?" Isla asks through a mouthful of potato skins.

"Yeah, for good. So I hope you don't get sick of me." Cheyenne replies. She knows Isla just wants some female figure in her life that isn't a total fuck up.

"I won't," Isla promises. "It will be nice having another girl in the house. Dad has no sense of cleanliness and I know he is trying, but all the girly stuff I like freaks him out."

Cheyenne laughs. "Well I'll have you know your dad hasn't changed since he was a kid. He used to leave stuff everywhere."

"Yeah, I'm used to cleaning up after him." Isla tells her. "Although he calls me OCD like you."

"Well that is coming from a guy that used to turn his boxers inside out inside of washing them."

"Ew, gross," Isla says with a scrunched nose. "Luckily, dad has learned to wash his own clothes."

Cheyenne frowns at that thought as she knows Lip only learned domestic skills as Nina possessed none when they got married. Sometimes Cheyenne wishes she, Jax, or even Opie would've talked to Lip about his unhealthy obsession with Nina before it led to a little girl being exposed to the same thing she and Lip were when they were kids. "Isla when's the last time you've seen your mom?"

Her niece isn't expecting that question as she begins picking at the bacon and seasonings on the potato skin. "I don't know. A couple months…she had another overdose and I found her. Dad hasn't let me see her since. Not even a phone call or texts."

Cheyenne is taken back by this as Lip never informed her of this little detail about Nina's last overdose. "Do you want to see her?"

Isla shrugs her shoulders. "I mean I'm used to seeing her strung out. To see her sober…is something like I actually don't know I could be able to see."

Cheyenne feels a pang in her chest at her niece's words as she knows that exact feeling. She only has memories of her mother and father being hopped up on any drug they could get their hands on. She was in the exact situation when her mother would get clean for a couple months. It was almost like her mother was a totally different person when sober. She hates that Isla knows that feeling especially at 9 years old.

"I know it bothers him." Isla says.

"What?"

"It bothers him that I look so much like her."

"Isla –"

She shakes her head. "It's true. I know he's scared that somehow she'll mess me up. That outside of my looks I inherited something else from her, I'm also aware of our drug invested family history."

Cheyenne doesn't have anything to say to that.

…

After a large and hearty breakfast made by his sister and taking a nice hot steaming shower, Lip was finally sobered up. Despite having Neeta, Gemma, and sometimes Fawn help out with Isla, it was rare he really indulged in getting drunk. Isla already had a junkie for a mom; she didn't need an alcoholic father as well.

And thinking of his pathetic junkie gash, he knew he needed to make sure that she was still breathing. He grabs his kutte and keys; he thinks any lingering effects of his hangover will completely disappear seeing Nina.

As he pulls into the driveway behind a car caked in dust, he isn't surprised to find the house he has rented out for her lacks of any type of maintenance. He grumbles at the sight of a pack of newspaper making a fountain by the front steps.

Not even bothering to knock or even announce his presence, he uses his key and unlocks the door.

As soon as he opens the door, he fights the urge to throw up at the smell of ass, smoke, and spoiled food.

He immediately walks into the kitchen where there are dishes filling the sink and a table filled with half eaten food on plates. He opens the window for some clean air and knows that he is really going to have to pay Neeta extra to see if she can make this house not seem like a junkie depot.

He has half the mind to put some of the dishes in the dishwasher, but with his luck he knows there probably isn't even soap.

He wipes his hands on his pants and he expects his junkie wife to be still in bed. But he doesn't have to search far for her as she passed out on the couch. Through a mess of clothes, newspapers, and various nick knacks where he is sure he would find some drug paraphernalia, he reaches his wife and eyes the changes in her since he last seen her crying in a hospital bed proclaiming another broken promise about becoming clean.

His wife looks thinner, laying in just a pair of black bikini underwear and a flimsy holey black t-shirt, with a bong laying a few feet away from her hand. Yet, the most noticeable change to his estranged lover her once brown hair that matched their daughter's is a bright ridiculous red. Sometimes he thinks this woman still thinks she is 19 instead of 29.

He wants to throttle her, but instead he shakes her awake.

"Go away," she mutters.

"Nina, wake the fuck up," he replies gruffly.

It seems the sound of his voice is all she needed to wake up. Her eyes pop open, the once yellow green eyes a dull murky green. She sits up and rubs her nappy hair and squints at him.

"What the fuck do you want?" She asks in her husky voice.

Sometimes he wonders what he saw in this woman.

"I came to make sure you didn't burn the place down or choked on your own vomit."

"I'm touched by your concern." She drawls as she folds her arms across her chest. He notices that her wedding ring is still on her left hand.

"Your daughter is fine by the way." He adds on and he revels in the wince she does. He kicks at the bong on the floor. "What happened to getting clean? Making it work this time?"

"If you came here to argue with me, I think you should just leave." Nina replies.

"Oh are you tired of this conversation. I mean after 9 years I'm getting sick of the repeat too."

Nina's head falls back onto the couch. "Lip, I don't feel like arguing right now, okay. I'm fucking tired –"

Her nonchalant attitude pisses him off. "And hungover and probably still high," he retorts and he barely realizes his foot coming up and then down on the glass bong making it shatter.

"Hey, asshole!" She shouts as he finally gets some reaction – emotion – out of her.

"I'm sick of this shit," he hollers at her. "I'm done."

He watches as her eyes widen. He doesn't know if it's because she realizes he isn't about to bankroll her anymore or that he won't let her in their lives at all. "What does that mean?"

"It means I'm filing for fucking divorce."

He can tell she is taken back and he knows he is to blame for that. He allowed for too long this back and forth between them. The only reason he showed effort now was because she was Isla's mother and he loved her at one time.

"You don't even want to make this work?"

"I've been trying to make this work for 9 fucking years, Nina." He shouts at her. It seemed drugs had messed up her memory. "Isla can't handle another one of your broken promises of becoming sober. I won't allow it."

Nina's eyes harden. "You will not box me out from my child."

Lip laughs. He full on laughs at her statement as she hasn't seen Isla for two months out of her own doing. "You're doing a fine job of that on your own with this junkie bullshit."

"So does coming here and scolding me like a goddamn child make you feel better?"

Lip sighs as his hands itch to smack the shit out of her. Not because on some days he hates her very being, but for the way she is a shit mother to their daughter. Yet, he knows he shows some weakness by standing here even showing concern for her that she brushes off. "Cheyenne moved back. With her helping out with Isla, I can have Neeta come by and help you out. If you want to see your daughter she has a dance recital coming up, I'll have Neeta bring you the info."

"Lip –"

He ignores her soft call of his name as he digs into his leather kutte for the envelope. He throws it on the table as he shakes his head, "This should last you a couple weeks. Don't spend it all in one place."

"Lip –"

He ignores her once more as he makes his way out of the house.

"Lip –"

He rushes out the door and slams it in her face as he speeds to his bike.

God, he hates her so much.

…

Taking a short needed ride around Charming, Lip finally heads to the clubhouse. With Isla and Cheyenne having their girls' day out, there is no need for him to sit and stew in an empty house especially after seeing Nina. He parks his bike and beelines it into the club, he thinks he might play a game of pool, maybe entertain a croweater, but instead he finds Jax at the bar and he strides it over to him.

"Hey brother," he greets as he slides onto the stool next to his VP.

Jax looks up at him and gives him a smile, "I'm surprised you're not sleeping."

Lip laughs. "Nah, had Sack take me home and was lucky when I did because Cheyenne was in the middle of making breakfast."

"What she make?" Jax asks as outside of his mother, Cheyenne was the best cook in Charming. If anything, her baked goods were something he craved for 9 years.

"The whole fucking spread man." Lip says fondly.

"Where she at now?" Jax inquires.

"Spending the day with Isla." He tells him as the Prospect brings him a beer. "Doing girl things and what not."

"Isla must be thrilled with her being back."

Lip huffs. "Better she has her than her fucking mother."

Jax's spine stiffens. "You see her?"

"Told her I'm about to give her papers soon." Lip reveals.

That is news to Jax's ears. For years they all had told Lip to just divorce the woman, but he never seemed able to find the strength to do it for reasons Jax did not understand. The club had witnessed many fights between Nina and Lip. Everyone had secondhand embarrassment when Lip would inform them of Nina's very public overdoses or when they would witness one of her crank fueled fits. Outside of that, Jax was aware after Isla was born of the physical fights Nina and Lip would get in or he should say Nina's violence. He remembers Lip going to his mom's late at night with deep gashes on his cheek and shoulders from Nina with a baby Isla in her carrier asking him mom for help.

It was a toxic relationship he let linger and fester.

Yet through all that he isn't sure how Fawn fits into the picture. He knows that since Lip bought a new house for him and Isla that he hasn't touched his wife. He didn't let her even scratch the occasional itch when they were still living together the last year they were together. Jax witnessed Lip entertain croweaters here in Charming and on runs, but somehow Fawn was in the picture. Fawn didn't seem to mind that Lip messed around. Jax was unsure how this was working out as despite Fawn's and Tig's stunted relationship, she still was a club member's daughter and if he was being honest with himself, Fawn was being treated like a personal sweetbutt.

"How she take it?"

"Shocked like this hasn't been coming since we exchanged fucking vows." Lip mutters while he motions a sweetbutt for another drink.

"Was she high?" Jax questions. He knows like with most addicts they almost seemed bipolar with all their different personalities as the drug abused worsened.h

"House is a fucking disaster. She was passed out on the couch just in a shirt and underwear a bong laying on the floor. Who knows if her shit was laced."

Despite Charming's no dealing policy that didn't mean people didn't cross the border to get their shit. Plus addicts are resourceful when it comes to wanting to get their next hit. "All that shit will work itself out."

"I just don't understand how I can still love her, still feel something for her, but at the same time hate her fucking guts so much. Like the sight of her disgusts me." Lip reveals as he picks at his beer bottle. "Nina has given me the greatest gift ever by giving me a daughter, but there are some days Jax I hate her for it. I hate myself for it. I'm not saying I regret my daughter because she makes all this shit worth it. But what I do regret is letting her ever know Nina as her mother."

…

After filling their bellies up and working off all the calories by a shopping excursion in Stockton and Lodi, Cheyenne and Isla are heading back to Charming. It's nearing dinner time and both girls know that Lip is waiting for them and some supper. Cheyenne knows that her brother can cook, but she also knows that he prefers her to do the cooking. Cheyenne will indulge him for the first couple weeks.

Driving through Charming, Cheyenne decides to take a detour.

Growing up around the club and just having a brother, Cheyenne was around Jax and Opie Winston a lot.

Unlike Jax, Opie always felt like another brother, fierce and protective. He always made time for her like she was his actual flesh and blood. Cheyenne knew she could always rely on Opie in a different way she could her own brother and even Jax.

It's one thing that she almost didn't like about being away from Charming. Since Opie's arrest she couldn't help his family out the way she wanted to. Of course she took the almost two hour drive from San Diego to visit him. Make sure he was keeping his head down to get back at home with his family. Back to Donna.

Isla becomes excited as they near the house mostly likely at the prospect of seeing her best friend, Ellie. The two girls were about 6 months apart and thick as thieves just like how Opie and Jax were.

"Does Ellie do dance or gymnastics with you?" Cheyenne asks.

Isla shakes her head in the negative. "She did, but with Aunt Donna picking up extra shifts…she had no way there or the money."

Cheyenne nods her head sadly. "But –"

"Dad offered to pay and even said that Neeta didn't mind being the DD, but you know how Aunt Don is."

"Why do you know so much about this?"

"Gemma and the guys don't have quiet voices."

"You shouldn't eavesdrop."

Isla shrugs her shoulders.

Cheyenne pulls into the driveway and they find Donna mowing the lawn.

She can tell the prison widow is confused who is pulling into her driveway until recognition dawns on her.

Cheyenne and Isla exit the car with bright smiles.

"I would hug you, but I'm all sweaty." Donna says.

Cheyenne waves her off and engulfs her in a tight hug. "It's good to see you, Donna."

"You too, Dr. Henderson."

"Stop. I still have to complete my residency before it's official official."

"Still it's more than what most of us can say or show for ourselves." Donna replies before she turns her eyes on Isla. "Ellie's in the back with Ken."

Isla gives her a smile and a quick hug before she dashes off to the backyard. "I have to say I'm glad those two have each other." Donna comments before she leads her over to the garage onto some plastic chairs.

"Doing some cleaning?" Cheyenne asks as she sees various things scattered on the floor and boxes.

Donna looks at the clutter in the garage disdainfully. "Yes and no."

Cheyenne surmises that Donna was venting some anger. "I hear July 4th is his homecoming."

Donna snorts. "Yeah. I've been waiting five years for it, but now I wish I could prolong it."

"I think most feel like that, honestly."

"Have you seen him?"

"Not for a while. Been busy with my residency." Cheyenne informs her.

"He'll be proud of you. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks."

"Sorry, I didn't come to the party. It's nothing against you. I just –"

"I understand." Cheyenne says as she watches passing cars.

"How does it feel to be back?"

"Ask me that in about three weeks."

"Well I can tell you that nothing has changed in Charming."

"Except its people."

"Not all of them." Donna replies sadly before she stands up and offers her a drink.

They move from the garage into the house. The kids are still outside playing as the two older woman move on to more lighthearted subjects such as school, the different patients Cheyenne has had, and living in such a big city. Donna updated her on the kids and even provided some pictures for her to take. Still Donna couldn't hide the fact that despite Opie not being here her whole life still revolved around that fact.

She loved Donna like a sister. She witnessed the start of their relationship and knew how much the two of them loved each other.

And despite how much the club was speaking behind Donna's back at her cold shoulder to them, Cheyenne can understand it. Cheyenne feels that Donna is entitled to it. She was raising two babies by herself without their father, who once released, was going to go back to the very thing that got him locked up. Donna knew that he was going to go back to the risk. But at the same time it's a slippery slope of wanting to assign blame and anger. She thinks that Donna is probably really angry at herself for knowing that no matter what Opie promises her, he can never be anything else except an outlaw.

Cheyenne was discussing a more disturbing, but funny case she had come across working as an intern when they heard the front door to the house open. Both girls stiffen, but Cheyenne relaxes when she notices it's just Jax.

He puts his hands up in a friendly gesture. "Hello."

"Hey, Jax," Donna greets neutrally. "What brings you over on this side of town?"

"Was just passing through. Thought I would see my niece and nephew." He replies not bothered by Donna's tone.

"Well they're in the back." Donna says stiffly. "I'm going to be in the garage."

Before Cheyenne can even stop her, Donna is out of the dining room in a flash. Cheyenne looks backs up to Jax, who doesn't even seem fazed.

"You know you could retire the kutte," Cheyenne exclaims as she is sure Donna doesn't need any SAMCRO reminders in the house.

Jax looks at his leather vest and only shrugs his shoulders. He walks over to wear she is sitting, "Heard you and Isla had a busy day."

"We did." Cheyenne confirms.

"Buy anything for me," Jax teases.

"You know I forgot you even existed until just now."

Jax frowns. "That wounds me, darlin'."

Cheyenne cackles and the corner of Jax's lips quirk up. Cheyenne doesn't realize she missed this. The easy banter between the two. She didn't have this back in San Diego or Los Angeles with anyone. Yet, Jax wasn't like anyone else.

Turning her head away from his blue eyes and sinful lips, she looks outside to where Isla is playing with Ellie and Kenny. She looks so happy and carefree.

Jax follows her line of sight. He places his hand on her shoulder and gives it a reassuring squeeze. "It's good your back, Chey."

Cheyenne leans her head on his hand.


	4. The First Day

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** As always thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows. I'm glad you guys are enjoying the revision so far. I've been getting alot of questions about Wendy and this chapter will answer if she is relevant at all to this story.

until then.

* * *

With allowing a couple weeks to get accumulated to Charming and her family, Cheyenne is ecstatic to be back in the sterile hallways of a hospital. Despite the private hospital's small size and location, which meant that she probably wouldn't get a lot of diverse cases, in spite of that, the smaller workload meant she would be able to really invest in cases and perfect her skill.

She was sure she would miss the bustling days of San Diego's busy halls, but she knows she will thrive at St. Thomas. Besides, the private hospital did have an outstanding reputation and doctors were known to go to Stockton Memorial or the state prison for gratis work, which looked great on her resume long term.

No matter what, she is glad to be back working.

Margaret Murphy, the red headed administrator, seems ecstatic to have her. The Obstetrics and Gynecology department was looking for a new doctor to fill a spot. She was more than happy to welcome her to the team and was hopeful once she completed her residency that she would be happy enough to retain her position there. It had seemed her professors had given glowing remarks and recommendations.

Even though she grew up in Charming and even took a summer internship at the hospital, during high school, as she believed she would be a nursing major, she allowed Margaret to give her a detailed tour of the place even down to the basement. Some of the nurses and doctors that worked the hall when she was a kid were there and were happy to see her as a doctor no less. She knows most didn't think she would leave the world of outlaw bikers and she knows most are skeptical about her return to Charming and all that it holds.

Despite that Margaret doesn't seem to comment on her connection to the outlaw club if she even knows about it.

After orientation, Margaret leads her to the Obstetrics and Gynecology floor, where she will be working under Dr. Greenfield. Despite her specialty, Margaret had told her that given the nature of the small hospital and her residency she should expect to work in other departments as a floater.

Cheyenne finds with the absence of the one doctor, the department is backed up and overworked with cases. It's not that different from an overpopulated city, she thinks.

Her first day goes smooth. Maybe too smooth, but she doesn't mind. It makes her eager for the following day. Most of the staff seem nice and are appreciative of a familiar face roaming the halls. Yet, she knows soon they are going to challenge her on her knowledge and skill. She knows most won't mean any harm about it, but some will still think she is low class biker scum or as they called her in high school, a biker whore.

Despite her excitement of work, she can't wait to get back to Isla and Lip, who she knows will not really care to hear about imaging procedure, blood tests, Pap smears, and breast exams. Luckily Lip only lives 15 minutes away from St. Thomas, an easy and convenient walk to and from work. With her satchel across her shoulder, the sun setting low, she knows to appreciate even getting out this early in a residency, she begins her journey home.

She knows she could drive, but as she learned down in school, the best way to decompress was to go on walks. Walking through the city allowed her to allow any stressors to flow out of her, she would focus on little kids lighting firecrackers or old ladies feeding birds. It was nice and calming and now in Charming she finds it no different. Plus walking the streets in Charming is safer than San Diego.

She is five minutes into her walk when she makes a mental note that she should invest in a new iPod when she hears a familiar growl of a bike. She first thinks it's her brother, but he told her that he would be at the clubhouse until Isla needed to be picked up from her dance practice.

But the growl of the bike is different and the figure isn't as bulky as her brother. She slows her walk to an eventually stop as the bike slows to a stop in front of her. It's Jax.

"You getting off from work?"

"Yeah."

"You're walking?" He says pointing out the obvious as he looks around the block as if the boogeyman is going to jump out and mug her.

"It's not a far walk, Jax."

"Something wrong with your car?" He asks.

"No, I just like the walk."

He doesn't look impressed as he unclips his helmet.

Cheyenne sighs. "Jax –"

"Chey," he says as he extends his helmet out to her.

"Jax, really I'm fine walking."

"I would feel better if you let me take you home." He insists.

Cheyenne's eyes narrow. "Why? Is something going on?"

Jax levels her with a blank stare. "Does it matter if there is?"

Cheyenne bites her bottom lip as she has another retort on the tip of her tongue, but she knows it's better than to start arguing with a biker – any biker. Reluctantly she snatches the helmet out of his hand and clips it onto her head.

She has the urge to slap him as she can see the quirk of his lips as she swings her leg over his bike.

Arriving back to Lip's, she doesn't comment that he took a little ride through town to make the ride longer. She didn't necessarily mind as she did miss being on the back of a bike. It made her want to slap Jax even more as he knew she enjoyed the short ride.

She loosens her arms from his waist and removes herself off his bike. She unclips the helmet and hands it back with a small smile. "Thanks for the ride."

"No problem. You still have your helmet?"

"It's probably somewhere in the house. I don't think I'll be riding on the back of Lip's bike unless he takes a power hose to it." Cheyenne drawls.

Jax chuckles as he shakes his head. His hands clutch the grip to his silent bike.

Cheyenne digs for her keys in her bag and tilts her head back to the empty dark house.

"I'm making dinner. You can stay if you want." She offers.

…

With Jax accepting her offer of dinner, Cheyenne makes quick work of shrugging out of her scrubs into some cotton shorts and t-shirt. She finds Jax in the kitchen rummaging through the fridge for a beer.

"Well I see you've made yourself at home." Cheyenne jokes.

Jax snaps up with the cold beer in his grip and gives her a smile. "Well if you'll believe it, I actually did watch Isla with Kenny and El a few times."

Cheyenne shakes her head as she begins grabbing the materials and food she needs to make Chicken Parmesan.

Jax settles at the breakfast bar and watches her. Although, Cheyenne has a feeling his eyes are on her legs and behind.

Jax finally clears his throat. "So how was the first day on the job?"

Cheyenne shoots him a wide smile. "It was great actually, but I'm sure you don't want to hear about Pap smears and such."

Jax grimaces and nods his head in the affirmative. "So everyone treated you good."

"Well it's the first day so everyone was nice. I'm sure once I get comfortable and familiar that people will start to challenge me. It's to be expected. I'm new and young." She tells him.

Jax nods his head. "How did you switch from wanting to become a nurse to doctor?"

"My first year advisor told me to make the switch. Said I would make a great nurse, but I would be a brilliant doctor."

"You should be proud of yourself, Chey."

"I am." She says proudly.

"So that means with that doctor salary you can afford the gas to take you to and from work." Jax quips.

Cheyenne doesn't hide her eye roll from him as she turns away from the food she was preparing. "I don't need a watchdog or knight in shining armor. I know that's your thing, but I don't need it."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Cheyenne bites her lip as she looks at him. Unsure of how too exactly to word what's she's trying to say. She wasn't unappreciative of the ways he did look out for her. She knew that that protective feeling he had over those he cared about wasn't from the club and the responsibility and code they followed. This instinct he was born with. It was an integral part of Jax.

As she grew up and got older, that protectiveness changed with her, just like how their relationship changed before them. Never of them acknowledging the first kiss he given her or that moment on the Wahewa lands. She wondered if it was more dangerous of them to leave it unsaid. Unsaid to everyone they knew.

Cheyenne's grey eyes look into his blue ones. "It's different between us now."

Jax takes a sip of his beer. She can see those moments between them in his eyes. "It's because we're two different people now."

"To other people, yes. But to each other?" She asks him.

She can tell he seems uncomfortable with the conversation and a part of her knows why. She can see it as his eyes tries to stay above her neckline.

Jax licks his lips and he rubs a hand down his face, "Chey –"

His words are cut off, but the loud unmistakable growl of her brother's bike.

…

As expected, with being in a residency Cheyenne finds herself being handed easy assignments like handling birth control implants or reading over blood work. She doesn't mind it per say, but grunt work is the small price to pay before she will be seen on equal level with her licensure. Besides it gives her an easy day to be handling such load work.

However the next name on her list of a checkup makes her eyes roll.

She knocks on the door before she enters and finds Fawn Trager sitting on an exam table.

"Well if it isn't Dr. Henderson." Fawn says with a wave.

"Are you really here for an appointment or is this a social call?" Cheyenne asks as she closes the door.

"And here I thought you would be excited to see me." Fawn drawls as she winks.

"Outside of work, yes." Cheyenne replies as she stuffs her hands in her pocket. "Besides I'm sure whatever questions you have about your health I could've answered when I last saw you a couple days ago."

"That may be true," Fawn answers. "But I am here to change my birth control from the shot to IUD. Scout's honor."

"I can see that. Any questions before I insert it." Cheyenne asks her.

Fawn lays back on the exam table, "Not really a question, but a comment."

Cheyenne rolls over the side table and her scooter towards her friend. "And what comments is that."

"Are you on birth control?"

Cheyenne quirks her eyebrow, "Why are you asking me that?"

"Hey, you're looking at my vag right now, so I don't think that question is intrusive."

" _Why_ are you asking, Fawn?"

"Well at the diner I heard that Jax Teller has been giving you rides home after work." Fawn says simply.

"Anyone ever tell you that you shouldn't listen to gossip."

"I only listen to it when I suspect it to be true. So is Jax Teller giving you rides home?"

"Yeah, he does." Cheyenne says knowing there was no point in denying it.

"Are you two fucking?"

"God, no. Jeeze." Cheyenne says with her nose scrunched.

"It's a valid question."

"Well we're not sleeping together. He gives me rides home from work that's it." Cheyenne states.

"So it never crosses your mind?"

"What?"

"Ya know," Fawn says with a waggle of her brows.

"Does it cross yours?" Cheyenne says as she slips on some gloves and begins prepping her instruments.

"Surprisingly, no."

It's quiet for a moment as Cheyenne focuses on the task in front of her and instructs her about what she is about to do. Talking through what she is doing to her friend as she inserts the IUD, it stalls all talk about Cheyenne's non-existent dating life.

As soon as Cheyenne is out of her friend's vagina their personal conversation resumes.

"Why are you pushing this so much Fawn?" Cheyenne asks her.

"I just find it weird that out of all of us you two never settled down yet."

"You haven't either unless you need to tell me about someone," Cheyenne points out.

"I don't," Fawn quickly recovers. "It's just…you two always seemed close. If I can be perfectly honest being here…sometimes I felt like Jax was waiting for you."

"You're being ridiculous." Cheyenne scoffs.

"Chey, you haven't been here. Some of the girls –"

"I really don't want to hear this," Cheyenne says with a shake of her head.

"Fine, but be honest with me, have you and Jax ever…"

Cheyenne turns and leans against the counter in the exam room. She doesn't want to lie to her friend, but if it would stop her pestering she'll indulge her. "Jax and I…we kissed once."

Fawn doesn't seem surprised. "And you never slept with him."

Cheyenne's eyes flicker away guilty.

"When the fuck was this?"

"Fawn, this isn't an appropriate time to be talking about this."

"I'm confused as your best friend why you didn't tell me this."

"Because it doesn't matter, Fawn. It's not like I went daydreaming of being his Old Lady. It happened and we moved on."

"Did you?" Fawn asks her.

Cheyenne purses her lips and doesn't respond. Instead she turns back to the medical professional and gives Fawn all the information she needs to know about her form of birth control.

…

Jax can say he is actually exhausted working in the garage for once. Despite the shower he just took he can still smell the motor oil on his skin and can even see it under his finger nails. Still one of the perks of the clubhouse being right next to his legal job is that he only has to walk two feet to get a nice cold beer.

Most of the guys have turned to the croweaters to sooth the aches of an 8 to 12 hours day work, but him, Lip, and Piney have taken refuge at the bar. Jax only wishes that Opie was here with them. Jax always dreamed of the day when he would become President with Opie as his Vice President and Lip as his Sergeant in Arms. Except since Opie got locked up and Donna's increasing anger, he can't help but feel Opie is going to pull away from the club to appease her when he gets out. Those thoughts make him frown. Jax turns to the clock and finds that it's 15 minutes to 6 o'clock. Cheyenne is supposed to get out at 6.

Standing up, he pats Piney on the back and bids him goodbye and he is about to do the same to Lip, but the burly tattooed man stops him.

"Where you going?" Lip asks him.

"Out." Jax says with a furrow brow.

Lip leans up straighter and turns his body to face Jax fully. There is a look in Lip's brown eyes that Jax has never seen. It makes even him stand straighter.

" _Out_ …it's funny because my sister gets out of work at 6. You're leaving right now. Is there anything you need to tell me?" Lip probes as his arm leans on the countertop and the other over the shoulder of his chair.

"You listening to gossip now?"

"When it comes to my sister absolutely." Lip says with a wide smile.

"I just give her a ride man, no harm."

"On your bike or dick," Lip says now with his arms crossed. Jax knew this question was coming, but he is even taken back by the blunt nature of it and so is Piney as he looks like he is about to intervene.

"Lip, maybe you two should discuss this somewhere else," Piney advises.

"You're right." Lip agrees. "I should talk to my sister about it."

Jax narrows his eyes. "Are we going to have a problem?"

"I hope not." Lip says before he turns back to his beer.

…

Cheyenne practically hops down the steps of St. Thomas to where Jax is leaning against his bike smoking a cigarette. "You really don't need to keep giving me rides, Jax," Cheyenne says despite the smile on her face.

Jax stubs out his cigarette before he hands her his helmet. Jax had dug out an extra helmet, but after Lip and now knowing people were gossiping about this, he left it untouched in his dorm.

Cheyenne clips on the helmet and as she sees Jax hasn't moved from his spot she frowns at him. "Everything okay?"

Jax shakes his head and turns to get on his bike. "Yeah, you hungry?" He calls over his shoulder.

"Jax, you don't need to take me to dinner or whatever." Cheyenne says as she gets on behind him and wraps her arms around his waist.

…

Despite her words, Jax takes her to Lumpy's Family Restaurant, nothing fancy, but the greasy food was something she had missed during her time away. As the two walk in, Cheyenne is fully aware of the eyes that turn to them. Jax seems to ignore them as he leads them to the table in the back away from prying eyes. And of course since he is SAMCRO he doesn't need to wait for the server to take them to a table.

A waitress is quick to get to their table giving them menus as well taking their orders for drinks. He asks her his usual questions about her day at work and he tells her about his or what he can. It isn't until their food is serve where she knows the waitress won't be bothering them for a while unless it's for drinks she turns the table on the conversation.

"How do you think Opie is going to handle getting out?" She asks.

She can tell he is taken back by the question as his face scrunches and he looks up at her. "What do you mean?"

"I was just thinking with how Donna is right now…the push and pull…is he going to be able to handle his family that is going in one direction, but the club is going through another."

"They'll work shit out. Donna knows what the Life is." Jax replies.

"What she knows Jax is that she doesn't want to be alone raising two kids again." Cheyenne counters.

"You think she'll divorce 'im?"

Cheyenne shrugs her shoulders. "She hasn't yet so that could mean something, but I don't know if you haven't noticed no one is married in the club besides your mom and Clay. I mean Luann and Otto are. But Otto's in prison."

"What you getting out, Chey?"

Cheyenne sighs. "I don't know." Cheyenne nibbles on her fry and she can still feel Jax's eyes on her. "Why haven't you found anything…since Tara?"

Jax completely abandons his food as he leans back in his vinyl seat. "You saw how me and Tara were. Fucking crazy about each other. Wild. Possessive, but I loved her. It made me fucking reckless, but at the same time invincible. Felt like Superman. I realized you only get that feeling once."

"Are you waiting for her to come back?" Cheyenne probes.

Jax shakes his head. "You saw me after she left," he begins referencing to his revolving door of women. "When you left…there was this croweater, Wendy, she wasn't a girlfriend, but she filled a void that I had. We had good times, but she was a fucking mess, which was expected since she hung out with Nina. After that…I wasn't going to waste my time. I thought maybe I should wait for someone better to come along. I mean if Tara could make me feel like Superman. It's going to be nice someday when someone could make me feel like God." Jax ends with a wolfish smile.

Cheyenne snorts and can't help but roll her eyes.

"What about you? Meet any aspiring lawyers, engineers, doctors?" Jax inquires.

"Actually, I got back with Mason."

Jax's brows furrow as he thinks about that curly haired boy and then his eyebrows skyrocket. "Daniels?"

Cheyenne nods her head. "Yeah, he was the only thing familiar down there. It was a goddamn mess though with the back and forth. We really didn't work out. Just a mess."

"What happened?" Jax asks curious although he still feels that jealous heat when he thinks about his first encounter with the boy.

"Just never felt right. Timing always seemed off. Plus we both wanted different things in life. I'm sure he doesn't miss me like I don't miss him."

Jax's lips quirk up at that. He leans forward and his eyes scan the restaurant where people are trying not to be nosey as he and Cheyenne eat their dinner. It makes Jax think about Lip's words. "Lip talk to you?"

"About what?"

"Us."

Cheyenne's brows pinch together. "What do you mean _us_?"

"Apparently there are some things being said about us, but I wouldn't worry about it since my mom hasn't confronted me about it." Jax tells her with a smile.

"Hmph."

"Does it bother you?"

"That people think we're fucking?" She asks bluntly.

Jax nods his head.

"I'm more concerned about what we're actually doing than what people think." Cheyenne says.

Jax doesn't get to respond to that as the waitress comes bustling over making sure they are still doing okay.


	5. A Bridge

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** As always thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows. I'm glad you guys are enjoying the revision so far. So please, please leave reviews. I really want to know what you guys are thinking about Cheyenne, Lip, Isla and Nina and I would love to hear your theories of how I am going to play with canon.

until then.

* * *

Cheyenne finds herself standing outside with a fresh box of donuts and juice and wonders if she should've called first.

With being back in Charming going on a month, Cheyenne decides now would be a good time to visit her soon to be former sister in law. Despite Nina's and Lip's tumultuous marriage, Cheyenne always tried to be civil to Nina for the sake of Isla, and for the fact that just being plain nasty to the woman wasn't very conductive to anything.

After all, Cheyenne never directly had a problem with Nina. She can say she didn't expect her brother and Nina to have lasted this long. Cheyenne and most thought that it would just be some high school romance with Lip just discovering the rush of lust as a teenager. Instead, Lip had stuck with the notorious party girl and for all that Cheyenne knew her brother was faithful, give or take a night or two.

From that start though, Nina's infamous partying way were known. Nina had a reputation for being the life of every party she attended. She was known for being the go to girl that guys flocked too if they were looking for a little more. Cheyenne can recall a lot of conversations between Jax, Opie, and her brother about Nina's reputation and how it wasn't exactly old lady material. However, unlike Opie and Jax, who were fast to proclaim and tag their high school sweethearts, it was never like that with Lip.

Nina was just someone her brother could count on for a guarantee lay. After all, in high school, girls wanted a piece of anyone attached to the club. Despite raising their nose at them before they settled down in suburbia, girls needed that one night of indiscretion with the outlaw bikers.

Nina didn't even get her crow until after Isla was born – after the wedding.

Even though Cheyenne supports her brother through everything, she could tell the fact it seemed Nina loved Lip more than he loved her bothered her. Cheyenne suspects it was why Nina turns to drugs so much so that she could fill that void Lip constantly gives her.

Cheyenne thinks she has pity for her former sister in law, but even if she and Lip had their problems, it was no excuse to abandon her daughter. Now returning to Charming and seeing the affect Nina's absence has on Isla first hand, she knows Lip was downplaying the severity of Nina's addiction.

After all it's been almost two months since the mother has seen her own flesh and blood and it's only a 15 minute drive to Lip's house.

Seeing as the doorbell doesn't seem to be working, Cheyenne knocks on the door. Cheyenne knows she is home as the car is in the driveway and Nina currently doesn't have a job. Lip is supporting the woman to the point he is more of a sponsor or maybe even an enabler.

Finally she hears some movement coming from inside the home and the door opens and reveals Nina.

Despite the heavy drug use, Nina is lucky it hasn't messed with her skin or aging too bad. The 29 year old looks the same as she did when she was 21. Except now she has fire engine red hair that doesn't seem to be doing her any favors at the moment. She is also thankfully clothed in simple denim jeans and a white t-shirt.

The bottled red head seems shocked to see her.

"Lip mentioned you were back." Nina greets.

Cheyenne gives her a small smile and holds up the box of donuts. "I brought some food."

Nina lets her in. Cheyenne doesn't expect a tour as she finds the kitchen to place the donuts on the counter. The house is a mess, but she spots some hampers and cleaning supplies out so she supposed Nina is actually cleaning for once. Nina bypasses her and hops onto the counter next to the box of donuts and begins to dig in.

Cheyenne stands awkwardly in the middle of the kitchen.

Just because the two of them never had any real issues, Cheyenne could tell even when she was younger that Nina never cared for her. Or she simply thought of her as Lip's younger nerdy sister.

"I hear you're a doctor now." Nina states through a mouthful of a honey glazed donut.

"I'm working to get my licensure to be an OBGYN." Cheyenne replies.

"You want to look at women's vag for a living?"

"Well when you put it like that…"

Nina shakes her head as she begins work on another donut.

"How have you been?" Cheyenne asks.

Nina scoffs. "As if Lip hasn't told you."

"It doesn't matter what Lip has told me, I'm asking you." The ebony hair girl counters.

"Why are you here, Cheyenne? Because I'm not buying the Good Samaritan act." Nina states bluntly.

"I'm here because now that I'm back in Charming…we can all figure out what's best for Isla." Cheyenne tells her. At the end of the day, no matter what's going on between Lip and Nina their main focus should be Isla and what's best for her.

"Isla isn't your daughter –"

"But she's my niece. She's still blood and family." Cheyenne interrupts. "Do you think this is healthy for her? Seeing you like this?"

"She doesn't see me."

"Well whose fault is that?" Cheyenne retorts.

Nina clenches her jaw. "Look I know you're trying to place nice, but I really don't need or want your help."

"You really don't need to be making any more enemies, Nina."

"What I need is for you to get out of my house." Nina states.

Cheyenne bites her tongue as she knew her talk was going to end this way. Cheyenne digs through her bag and pulls out a piece of paper and pen and writes her number down. Even if Nina is being hostile now she isn't going to close the door on at least trying to help the addict for Isla's sake. "If you ever need anything, you can reach me." Cheyenne offers. She places the paper on the counter and a part of her knows the paper will find a home in the trash.

"Thanks for the donuts," Nina departs with.

…

No matter what is going on with the club or his personal relationships, Isla always comes first to Lip. There were times when Clay was miffed with him for putting Isla before the club, but as much as the club was family, Isla was his daughter. He was left alone to raise her and he knew he didn't want her to feel that same hatred he held for his own father and mother. So with his sister now back in Charming and Nina's recent overdose, he knew it was time to take his daughter out one on one and to see how she was handling these recent developments in her life.

With Charming so small there isn't much to do and despite him knowing his daughter is getting older it doesn't stop him from taking her to the park to the large pond to feed the ducks.

With some treats for the birds, their picnic blanket lays on the soft grass. He knows a lot of them think Isla looks like Nina and he can see it in her eyes and the shape of her face and nose. Even down to his daughter is built. Yet, he thinks his daughter looks like his mother. Tall, elegant, and beautiful. He thinks Isla could become a model if she wanted to, but his daughter is destined for greater things.

"I spoke to Nina a couple weeks back." He tells her.

Isla doesn't seem surprised by the news. "I heard she has red hair."

Lip sighs as he is sure one of the gossiping queens around the neighborhood made a comment to their kid who then proceeded to tell his daughter that.

"I've decided that I'm going to divorce your mom."

That makes her freeze and turn her head over to look at him. It's the same look he sees on Cheyenne's face time to time as she calculates something in her head. "Well it's obvious you aren't happy with her." She begins. "It's not like I can remember a time you two were ever together."

Lip frowns at that. His biggest regret was exposing his daughter to his toxic relationship with Nina. "I want you to know that no matter what happens between your mother and I...when she's sober and clean…I won't stop you from getting to know her."

Isla bites her lip. Despite how close the two of them are he still doesn't have an accurate read on his daughter's feelings when it comes to Nina.

"I'm so used to her not being here…I don't think I can ever make room for her." She tells him. "Besides, I don't think Mom really even likes me."

"Isla –"

"No it's true. I don't think people like Mom…are people who should have kids. I think she realized just because she had me it didn't mean that it would be a sure way for her to keep you."

Lip is taken back by her words. He knows that someone has been feeding her daughter some truths that a 9 year old shouldn't even need to know.

"Where did you hear that from?"

Isla rolls her eyes. "Dad, I'm 9 not 5."

"Well if you didn't realize only 4 years ago you were 5." He points out with a frown. "You're growing up too fast."

Isla smiles at him as she snickers.

"How do you feel with your aunt coming back home?"

"I'm really happy about it!" Isla exclaims. "It's going to be nice with another woman in the house."

"Hey –" Lip begins in protest.

"Dad you leave your socks everywhere." Isla tells him with a pinched nose.

"I don't complain about your hair always in the bathroom."

"I always clean it up!" Isla insists.

"You mean Neeta does." He corrects as he wraps his arm around her shoulder and brings her into a hug. He knows soon she won't like his open affection so he revels in any chance he can just hug his daughter because even though as she gets older everyday she'll always be his little girl.

"Isla, you and Cheyenne are the most important people to me." He says against her head.

"I love you too, Dad."

…

Cheyenne isn't exactly surprised how the visit with Nina went. She's only disappointed that Nina doesn't seem to want to change if not for herself, but for her daughter. However, Cheyenne knows how lethal addiction is to family relationships and it changes people. The only thing she can focus on is that Isla grows up knowing that even if her mother is absent that there are other people that love her even more and more fiercely.

Cheyenne is leaning against the kitchen counter when a knocks come from the front door. Answering it she finds Jax on the other side.

"What are you doing here?" She asks.

"You said that your visit with Nina didn't go so well." He says as he enters the house.

Cheyenne shakes her head at him as she closes the door. "I didn't realize that meant it was an invitation to come over."

"What? You don't enjoy my company?" He responds as he flashes a big wide smile.

Cheyenne rolls her eyes as they head into the living room.

"So how's Nina doing?" Jax asks as he plops onto the couch.

"How'd you expect? She wasn't high or drunk, but her attitude still sucks." She informs him as she sits down next to him and curls around one of the pillows.

"I don't think she was ever really pleasant to begin with." Jax mutters.

"I just don't understand how a mother…cannot care for her child. Like she acts like Isla doesn't even matter."

"Hey, I wouldn't stress too much about it. She isn't worth it."

"I know. I just don't want Isla to grow up messed up because of this."

Jax doesn't say anything for a couple seconds. "Are you talking about you or Isla? Because I don't think you grew messed up. You are a doctor after all."

Cheyenne huffs.

"How about on Friday you come to the clubhouse?" Jax offers.

"Jax, that isn't really my scene."

"Just stop through have a drink. Trust me that is the usual cure for dealing with Nina. Just an hour tops."

"Jax –"

Jax scoots closer and she finds his hand reaching out for hers. "Come on you can hang out with me for a little."

"Yeah like you need a cock blocker, no thank you." Cheyenne says as she goes to remove her hand out of his grasp, but he tightens his grip.

"Chey –"

"Jax –"

"You wouldn't be a cock blocker. I want you to come." Jax brings her hand closer right onto his chest as he pouts. "Please."

Cheyenne sighs in defeat. "Fine."

Jax smiles at her and instead of dropping her hand. He keeps it close to his chest as his thumb rubs it back and forth. Soon his hand leaves hers as it travels up her arm as he rubs soothing circles.

Jax moves closer to her as his hand continues to trail up her arm leaving goosebumps in its wake. Soon his hand makes it up to the side of her neck before he cups her jaw and his thumb traces her bottom lip. She knows that she should pull back. She knows nothing good can come from messing around with Jax despite any history the two may share.

Despite that she doesn't stop him as his head leans forward and he is inches from her lips when the sound of a motorcycle breaks them apart.

…

Later that evening, Lip is filling up the dish washer as Cheyenne sits at the breakfast bar and polishes off her glass of wine. Jax only stayed for an hour after Lip and Isla returned from their outing. Isla had easily roped her aunt into watching a TV show while Lip had roped Jax into coming into the garage to work on his bike. Lip had ordered them some pizza and now Isla was back into her room talking to Ellie.

"So why was Jax here earlier?" Lip asks his sister.

"I don't know. He just stopped by." Cheyenne replies.

"So is this going to be a regular occurrence for him to just drop by?" Lip asks as he closes the door to the dishwasher.

"Why do I feel like I am about to be scolded." Cheyenne says to him. "If there is a problem between you and Jax keep me out of it Lip."

"I want to know what's going on between the two of you."

"Nothing. He just stopped by, Lip." Cheyenne tells him because there is nothing going on between her and Jax now.

"Jax doesn't just stop by at people's places, Chey."

"Lip, you do realize that Jax and I grew up together." She points out.

"I also know that you filled out more since you were 18." Lip presses.

"So that's what this is? You think I'm screwing around with your friend?" Cheyenne says heatedly. She thinks it rich coming from the man that is screwing her best friend. "If you haven't noticed Lip, I'm a grown woman."

Lip sighs and runs his hands down his face. "Look, I know how close the two of you were when you were younger. I can admit I was slightly jealous, but that was my fault for being wrapped up with Nina and everything else. It's just Jax…he has a very vivid history with women and you're not 12 years old anymore. I just don't want you to get hurt."

"Well I appreciate the concern, but Jax and I are just friends, Lip." She insists.

…

Much to her better judgement and displeasure to Lip and Isla, Cheyenne finds herself attending the regular party at the clubhouse on Friday. Of course, she did drag along Fawn, who only grumbled about coming for the free booze. Cheyenne thinks Fawn didn't just want to see Lip receive any attention from croweaters.

Giving her customary greetings to Gemma, Clay, and the rest of the guys, she found herself swooped up into multiple games of pool. Cheyenne has to keep herself from rolling her eyes at how easy it is to swindle men with the right time of the swing of the hips as she keeps pocketing money.

However, she finds her winning streak coming to an end when croweaters grab the attention of the men. She finds her culprit of the croweater parade to be nursing a bottle of beer at the bar.

Cheyenne walks over to the bar and crosses her arms.

"Thanks for ruining my game."

Jax lips tug up. "Hey you will lose to the promise of free pussy every time."

Cheyenne pinches her nose in disgust as she takes a seat next to Jax. She soon finds a wine cooler placed in front of her from the new Prospect. "Thanks, Kip."

The young man gives her a goofy smile and his cheeks flush pink. "Your welcome, Chey-Cheyenne."

"Hey, Sack don't you have some throw up to clean." Jax calls out.

The boy's smile darkens and he hustles off to the other end of the bar. Cheyenne punches Jax in the shoulder.

"Hey, I thought doctors had a do no harm order here."

"You didn't have to be so mean."

"He's supposed to fear the reaper, Chey. We all paid our dues."

"Still, he's nice and it's Friday. Give him a break."

"Didn't know you were so concerned with the Prospect."

Cheyenne rolls her eyes and doesn't give Jax a response. Instead, she looks out into the sea of leather and lace and realizes she doesn't see Fawn.

"Have you seen Fawn?"

"She's probably up on the roof fucking Lip." Jax states.

"Jax!" Cheyenne says exasperated with his lack of filter.

"What! It's true."

Cheyenne slaps her hand to her face.

"So you having fun?" Jax asks her.

Cheyenne shrugs her shoulders. "I mean nothing has really changed since I was younger." And it was true and she also knows as the night goes on it turns into a Cara Cara studio production and she has no interest in being exposed to that.

Cheyenne freezes momentarily as she feels Jax move closer and his breath fans across her neck. "You look good by the way."

Cheyenne tilts her head away from Jax and looks into his blue eyes. He doesn't break eye contact even as he leans back and pulls out a cigarette and lights it. She breaks eye contact as she folds her arms together. Despite her words, she doesn't find her skin tight black long-sleeved U shaped neckline shirt with her jeans with holes in her knees paired with strappy heels something exactly sexy. She also doesn't know how she feels with those words coming out of Jax's lips.

Thankfully, Fawn returns with red, swollen lips, which Cheyenne doesn't point out, and takes her to the dance floor. Cheyenne doesn't dare to look back at Jax.

…

Jax sits at the bar and does his best not to focus too much on Cheyenne as she and Fawn dance in his opinion quite provocatively against each other. The two even managed to rope in his mom and Luann for a quick second before the two seasoned Old Ladies retired outside. It also didn't escape his notice how many shots Cheyenne is taking while dancing.

Jax turns his eyes back to the bar and flags Half Sack down for another drink for himself and reminds himself he needs to get his shit together.

He thinks this sudden attraction to Cheyenne is probably because he is bored with the pickings around the clubhouse, but even he can't lie to himself. Instead of focusing on his loneliness and being a creep by watching Cheyenne throughout the night especially with Lip giving him the frequent stank eye, he forces himself to make conversation with Piney and Happy, who is visiting from Tacoma.

…

A half hour later, Jax is exiting the bathroom in his dorm, as he does not trust the public bathroom, when he steps out of his room and almost collides with another body. Exclaiming a cry of shock, the person almost stumbles onto the ground, but he catches the small figure. He doesn't know whether to frown or smile at the state they are in.

"You okay, darlin'." Jax asks Cheyenne as he holds her steady as she gathers her bearings.

"Just too much to drink and I was looking for the bathroom."

"You can use mine." He tells her as he directs her back into his dorm room.

"Thanks." She tells him as she walks shakily on her heels.

Jax waits by the door and nods as Tig and Bobby pass by with some croweaters and go into their respective rooms. He knows the party is winding down if guys are taking the party back to their rooms. He turns his head at the sound of the bathroom door opening and watches as Cheyenne throws her paper towel in the trash.

"You headin' home?" He asks her.

Cheyenne nods her head. "That was the plan, but I drank too much." She tells him with a pout.

Jax motions to his bed. "You can stay here."

"Jax," she tells him with a frown, "I can't."

"It's fine, Chey. Besides I don't think you want to crash in any other room or the couch."

"I can call a cab or something."

"Chey just crash here. I can just sleep on the floor."

Cheyenne rolls her eyes and sags against the wall. "We're not 12, Jax."

"So does that mean you're staying?"

"I feel like if I wanted to leave you wouldn't let me since you are barricading the door. Besides I told you I didn't want to be a cock blocker."

Jax smirks as he closes his door. "Trust me darlin' you're not."

Cheyenne moves his desk chair and begins taking off her heels. He walks over to his dressers and grabs one of his shirts.

"Here, you can change into this." He offers.

"Thanks." She says as she grabs the shirt and heads back into the bathroom.

Jax sighs as he shakes his head and removes his kutte. He goes back to his dresser and rummages for a pair of sweats to wear to sleep since he knows it wouldn't be exactly appropriate to just wear his boxers. He is stripping away his many layers and had just slipped the sweatpants over his hips when the bathroom door opens back up. Jax does his best to not linger on Cheyenne's legs sticking out underneath his shirt or the fact on the top of her pile of clothes is her bra – a light blue bra covered in lace. He wonders if she still wears her cool colors.

She gives him a small smile as she places the items on the desk. She turns towards him and crosses her arms. "So which side of the bed do you prefer?"

Jax looks back down to the bed. "The left side by the door."

Cheyenne nods her head as she lifts up the blanket. "I hope you're sheets are clean." She says in a teasing tone, but he knows that she's serious.

"Don't worry. My mom washed them."

"Wow, I'm surprised you didn't have Half Sack do them."

Jax shakes his head as they slide under the bed.

Cheyenne immediately makes herself comfortable as she curls into a ball and hugs a pillow to her chest. Jax looks at her with a raised eyebrow.

She pops her eyes open. "What?"

"Nothing." Jax tells her as he turns off the lights and tries to get comfortable and ends up laying on his side facing her.

He does his best to try not to think about Wahewa and the feel of her lips against his. He knows with nothing but his flimsy sweatpants between them it's best not to think about the actual feel of him in her.

As if she can hear his thoughts or feel his eyes in the dark she speaks up.

"Jax," she warns.

"You don't need the pillow, Chey." He tells her.

The room is silent. Only the sound of their breathing can be heard amongst the telltale thumps and squeaks that echo around them.

It's then he hears the rustle of the cover and a pillow hitting other ones that Cheyenne slides over to him. She rests her head on his shoulder as she lays an arm across him while he rest one around her shoulders.


	6. Contact

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Honestly I was unsure if I was going to be able to give you guys an update. My weekends have been so crazy these past few weeks and all my freetime/writing time has been severely limited. But I hope you guys like this chapter. Please give me feedback especially about the last part of this chapter. It was really going out of my comfort zone writing that. But please excuse all my terrible grammar and as always thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows.

until then.

* * *

"Son of a bitch," Jax exclaims as he pulls back from the bolt that he knew was stripped. He has half the nerve to cuss out the customer. The idiot tried to handle the repairs on his own when clearly he didn't know shit about the mechanics of the vehicle. But as Clay has always drilled into him, the customer is always right.

Jax steps back from the Harley knowing that it's owner is clearly a weekend rider. He is severely tempted to overcharge the shit head. Grabbing the tools he needs, he is about to dive back into his actual day job when his mother shouts his name out from the office door.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" She asks, her face unreadable, but she is tapping her foot impatiently.

Jax nods his head. His mind, however, goes haywire as he thinks if he has done anything to piss off his mother lately. Wiping his hands clean of grease and grime, he heads into the office where his mom is sitting at her desk getting ready to light a cigarette.

"What's up?" He asks. He sits on the old couch located next to the desk that has been there since the start of SAMCRO and Teller Morrow Automotive Repairs.

"Are you going to Isla's dance recital?"

Jax frowns at the questions. He wonders why she couldn't just walk over to him in the garage and ask him that. Besides she already knew the answer. The club and his mother usually all go to Isla's dance recital to support her. He didn't know if anything changed and he wasn't on the run schedule for him to not go.

"Don't I always go?"

"But are you going for Isla or Cheyenne?" She questions him.

Jax immediately becomes defensive and he sits up straighter on the couch. He knows no one realized that Cheyenne had spent the night in his dorm. Considering she had left without even a goodbye, he knows that she had been discreet and as the guys nursed their hangovers no one made snide comments about her and him. The croweaters had not even spoken a word on what they thought. Then again no one is his mother. She is the FBI in stiletto heels. But she wasn't there all night to even see Cheyenne head down the hallways leading to the dorm. He knows for a fact his mom and Clay left early.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

His mom isn't fazed by his defensive tone. In fact, she revels in it as she leans back in her seat and puffs on her cigarette.

"I know you two been hanging out a lot." She says with a shrug of her shoulders.

"What I'm not allowed to hang out with her anymore?" He asks with furrowed brows.

"Jax Teller doesn't hang out with girls unless he's tapping them." She states.

"Jesus Christ, mom," he mutters. "It's Cheyenne."

Gemma taps her cigarette against her ash tray as she looks at her son. Sometimes she thinks he forgets she did raise his ass. She knows how he operates. She knows that her son hasn't met a pussy he hasn't liked. Gemma can also tell her son is bored by the pickings around here. She knows that he has become disinterested in the croweaters. She has heard a few of them mope around about Jax's repeated dismissal of their attention. She has seen this restless behavior before and the next thing she knew Tara Knowles was coming over for dinner.

Tara was pretty, quiet, reserved, smart, and a challenge. Something her pussy loving son wasn't used too. And she watched her son fall hard for the aspiring doctor. She watched as Tara tried to immerse herself in a world that Gemma knew she would never understand or accept. All it was for them was teenage infatuation.

Yet it gave her a clear idea of what her son looked for in an Old Lady.

She knew another woman in Charming fit that bill and it was Cheyenne Henderson.

She watched as Cheyenne grew into a beautiful woman and how Jax's eyes would look at her. She never said anything because all the guys were guilty of the same thing at one point, but she didn't think her son would be stupid to act on it.

It wasn't as if she was opposed to her son settling down and giving her a few grandbabies. It was that protective nature for her son and the club that made her skeptical. Cheyenne was away for nine years. Yes, she practically raised the girl as her own daughter. It was because of that which made her know that Cheyenne could handle the club as long as she _chose_ too. Gemma could trust Cheyenne with the secrets of the club, well most of them. Plus, Cheyenne had ambitions that Charming couldn't contain or aid. Ambitions that have already pulled her away once.

"She's a patched member's family, Jax. What you do affects the structure of things and reputations -"

"Jesus Christ, Ma, I'm not fucking her." Jax says interrupting her. Because he wasn't. He did once, but his mother doesn't need to know that. He stands up and looks at her. "Ma, you have nothing to worry about. Believe or not, I did just actually miss her like I know you did."

Gemma seems to accept his words as she smiles. "I guess I'll let you get back to work."

…

Cheyenne is backstage as she watches the dance recital's makeup artist put the finishing touches on Isla. Cheyenne can say she is surprised with how packed the auditorium is for the dance team composed of young girls. The dance company was a recent addition to Charming 7 years ago. She knows it was something that Lip had signed Isla up for on a whim. She still remembers receiving the phone call from Lip as she tried to find tutus and how to put Isla's hair in a bun.

A smile hasn't left Isla's face since they arrived at the building where her niece was quick to introduce her to everyone.

Cheyenne was also surprised to see that Lip knew everyone and the proper names for the dance moves and even the makeup brushes.

She's standing next to her big brother, who is watching his daughter fondly, and she notices that he is without his kutte.

"No leather tonight?" She questions.

"Tonight, I'm just Isla's dad."

Soon the two of them are ushered out to their reserved seats and she notices an absent figure. She knows as much as Isla won't admit it that she was hoping her mom would show up to this recital as she is the lead in the show. The very least Nina could do was call and inform her daughter she wasn't going to show.

Yet, she knows that she will ruin her own mood if she thinks about Nina for too long. Cheyenne takes her seat next to Fawn, who is sitting next to her brother. She is looking over the program as the theme for tonight is _Alice in Wonderland_. Cheyenne is doing her best to ignore the closeness of Fawn and Lip. How they huddle close and laugh at their own little jokes. To Cheyenne they could be the mistaken as a married couple with Fawn being the proud mother of Isla.

Luckily her attention to Fawn's laughs is diverted when a person sits in the seat next to her.

"Miss me yet?"

"What's there to miss?" Cheyenne counters as she looks into Jax's blue eyes.

"I can name a few things," Jax replies as he leans back in his seat.

She finds Piney coming down the aisle with the Prospect trailing behind him with an armful of food.

"Isla mentioned that you guys always come to these. Is it like a required duty now for patches?" She asks him.

He throws her a smile. "We have to support family. Besides if we didn't come I think my mom would shove her heels in all our asses. Besides Isla is actually really good. Lip should be proud." Jax says as he eyes the program, which includes a professional headshot of Isla.

"God, just imagine when she's a teenager. I don't think Lip will be able to handle that." Cheyenne notes.

"Will any of us? I still remember when she was in diapers."

Cheyenne feels a pang in her chest. With schooling, she didn't get to be around her niece as much as she would've liked and Jax along with the guys got to see her grow up.

Jax nudges her in the shoulder and he points to the two people next to them oblivious.

"So how long has this been going on?" She asks him.

"Ahh…well I think about a year," Jax answers. "Almost two years."

"Do they think no one knows?"

"It's like an open secret that we all choose to ignore. Besides I think Fawn's relationship with Tig factors into that."

They both don't point out the irony of her hating her father for his life with the club and now her seeing her brother who is a member of the same one.

Their conversation comes to a halt as soon Gemma, Clay, and the rest of the guys begin to sit in their reserved seats and Isla's recital begins.

…

After the recital, they all retreat to Gemma's house and surprisingly they order takeout instead of wolfing down one of Gemma's home cooked meals. Isla is stuffed between Cheyenne and Lip. Clay is at the head of the table with Gemma and Jax flanking his sides. The guys fill the chairs and Cheyenne is surprised that Gemma even has a table to fit everyone.

And Cheyenne realizes that it feels like home.

Despite her years away and loving the fast past life of San Diego, it was never home like Charming was. She doesn't even know if that scares her. Most would call Charming a dead end or as one person screamed a cesspool – backwards and small minded.

But at the end of the day, it was Charming. It was where she grew up and where her family was.

It is where she is safe and protected. Those thoughts make her drink her wine a little bit faster.

…

After dinner, the guys retire to the living room and talk shop. Gemma and Luann make their way to Gemma's greenhouse. They are most likely smoking a joint despite Isla spinning around them on her tip toes. Her niece has taken an interest in becoming a Prima Ballerina. She has plans to move to New York and dance for the New York Theatre Ballet. She can still recall Lip's face at the thought of his daughter so far away.

It's too much for Cheyenne to think about.

All she has now and just barely is her job.

She easily slips through the back door and finds herself leaning against Gemma's and Clay's garage.

Gemma's and Clay's was practically her house. She grew up here after her father disappeared and her mother decided that she and Lip weren't enough.

It's a backyard full of memories of scrapped knees, burnt food, getting soaked with water guns, and laying under the stars.

She hears the back door open and close before she hears footsteps coming her way. She thinks maybe it is going to be one of the guys too lazy to walk to the bathroom and instead pee outside. Or maybe even some of them are calling it a night.

Instead, she finds Jax.

"You know I think some people would call this stalking," she points out to him.

"Hey, you've been out here for 20 minutes." He tells her as she slides next to her on the siding.

"Really?" She says confused.

He nods his head as he stuffs his hands in his pockets. "Everything okay?"

Cheyenne folds her arms around herself and nods her head. "It's just been a while since I was around everyone. Didn't realize how much I missed." And she doesn't realize some tears have fallen until Jax's warm hand caresses her face and his thumb wipes them away.

"Hey, Chey –" He says softly, but she pulls away.

"God, I can be such an emotional drunk. It's either I'm incredibly loud and horny or a crying mess."

"Sounds like you're speaking from experience."

Cheyenne looks up and even in the darkness she can see the teasing glint in his eyes. She smacks his shoulder.

He chuckles at her and she gathers her bearings.

It's quiet – a comfortable, but charged silence between them.

Cheyenne is unsure of what to say as well as Jax. But neither move to go back into the house.

"Remember when you scraped your hand on your mom's rosebush?" She asks him as she points to the aging bush that his mom revives each season.

His hand flexes as he thinks about the scar on his right palm. "Yeah, hurt like a bitch." He replies. "But it doesn't seem much has changed. Both still here in my mom's backyard."

"I think that says more about us than anything."

"As long as you're happy is what matters."

"And are you? Happy?" Cheyenne asks him as she looks up at him.

Blue and grey clash, Jax's blue eyes are slowly consumed by his pupil's.

"I am now." He responds and she can feel the shift around them. That same energy she has felt since she was a 17 year old girl receiving her first on the side of the road. And maybe a part of her has always been there never leaving the spot. Still yearning – aching – for something she felt since that day.

Cheyenne's back bounces against the siding of the house. She stands face to face with Jax. She can hear the laughter in the house and she knows if someone wanted they could just walk outside and find her standing like this with Jax. After all it's been 20 minutes since she's been out here and she knows pretty soon Isla or even her brother will get curious.

Instead, she lets Jax walk closer to her his body pressing into her. The blonde biker leans forward, he still smells like nicotine, leather, and sandalwood. It's a smell that brings a tightening in her belly. He brushes his nose affectionately against hers, almost asking for permission, it's all the encouragement she needs.

Mouth meeting hers, Jax tilts his head to kiss her better. It's nothing like their first kiss, which was sweet and innocent. This is something else something hungry with unbridled lust. Teeth and tongue mesh in a dance. He's stubble burns her cheek a little as his velvet tongue slides along hers. He tastes like the beer he just drank and she finds it inebriating.

Jax leaves her breathless. Cheeks flushed with heaving lungs as he gropes her chest and palms her ass. She feels his fingers toy with the hem of her underwear underneath her dress. She thinks she likes the way his cool rings contrast with his warm skin against her own. She squirms when his lips move pass her lips down to her neck.

Cheyenne thinks half of the thrill of this is that they are outside and someone can see them any minute. So it's too easy for her to move her hands from his blonde hair to underneath his shirt where she runs her nails along his stomach.

She doesn't even resist when his hands go back under her dress and moves her panties to the side as his hand dips between her fold. Her arms go around his neck as he scoops her up and crowds her against the wall. His thumb assaulting her clit, she clings to his shoulders. Her leg's wrap around the outlaw's waist tighten as his fingers move faster.

"Fuck," the ebony haired doctor whines as his fingers curl right into that sweet _sweet_ spot. Despite the haze, she begins to palm him through his jeans and an indescribable noise escapes his throat. Cheyenne presses little kisses to his jaw and throat careful not to leave any marks.

Jax knows she's close as her back begins arching off the wall and her breath seems to become harsher. He's knuckle deep inside her drilling into her in a maddening fashion as her hips desperately writher to meet his hand.

"Ah, I'm _so_ so close," she whimpers into his shoulder before he finds himself brought into a harsh kiss. Tongues and teeth mesh and Jax finds it too intoxicating. He can feel her fingers fumbling with his belt and button of his jeans before her hands fly back up to grip his shoulders hard. Her head hits the siding off the house and her lips part in a silent cry. Eyelashes flutter as her back bows for him. He can't help, but smirk at her tired gaze before he pulls his hand from her and tastes the slick on his fingers. She watches him with hazy eyes and cheeks flushed with heaving lungs.

It seems it's all the motivation she needs as he finds their positions reversed. She sinks down to her knees as he finds himself against the siding of the house. She pushes his pants and boxers down as she kisses his abdomen in their wake.

Glancing up at his expectant gaze, she finds his pupils nearly full blown. The blue only a rim. She presses a chaste kiss to the tip and wraps her hand around him. She pumps him a few times and licks him from base to tip before her pretty yielding mouth takes him in. Wet and moist. It's instinct that his left hand tangles in her hair.

Cheyenne braces her palms on his thighs as she relaxes her throat the best she can as she slides off his length. Jax nearly whimpers at the loss thinking she's going to pull off. Instead, with one hand on his cock, she steadies him and begins a steady bobbing movement. She swallows him down to the hilt.

Jax forces himself not to close his eyes as he watches her suck him exquisitely with a burning hooded gaze. He feels her tongue swirl around his length, his hand tight in her hair, he bites his lower lip, but it doesn't stop the moan that escapes it.

At this point, he's desperate to cum. Cock aching and balls so tight Jax feels like a teenager not going to be able to survive a few more thrusts. Cheyenne moans against him and it sets him off. Her eyes shot up to him and he maintains eye contact as his body tenses and his hip does shallow bucking into her throat as she swallows every last drop.

He slumps against the garage panting.

After a moment of catching his breath, he tucks himself back into his clothes. Cheyenne moves up to stand on her shaky legs. She fixes her dress and runs her hands through her hair. He gives her a dark look as he moves towards her and kisses her. He can taste himself on her tongue and he decides that he likes that. But she pulls back from him with unseeing eyes. They're distant. It's an unfamiliar look on her face.

She moves away from him without a word as she hands back into the house.

Jax digs into his pocket for his cigarettes.


	7. Release

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Surprise! I decided to give you a chapter early. You guys have been awesome and patient with all the rewrites for this. As you can see in this chapter, I am expanding the POV to Opie. I don't think I have wrote Opie before so I hope I do him justice. I can say one of things that I have been tackling while trying to write this is how I am going to portray Gemma's and Cheyenne's relationship. So I hope you enjoy this chapter. I am pretty sure most of you will like it.

* * *

After the oral/fingering incident at Gemma's, Cheyenne keeps her distance.

She did her best to avoid Jax and the clubhouse by extension. It was easy picking up more shifts at St. Thomas and helping out more with Isla. She even began to drive to work or take the bus.

Cheyenne knows whatever happened between her and Jax needs to just be left alone.

After that incident, she felt dirtier than she did after Wahewa. She blamed Wahewa on the fact she was young and was going to be leaving. In her lingering innocence she blames it on the fact it was the only way at the time to felt – they both felt – was the way to showcase their relationship.

But now she isn't 18. She is 27 with a budding career as an OBGYN. Even though she's back in Charming and she did miss home, she knows down the road there was that possibility she wouldn't be satisfied with the little town. Her professor even said big hospitals even look for new recruits who go back home for a bit. It would make her even more appealing.

And a part of her knew that Charming might not be forever. It could be a small detour.

And if she even thought of entertaining the possibility of her and Jax, she knows there will come a point that Charming won't be able to offer her what she needs to ever advance in her career. She also knows that it would mean accepting all the flaws that came with Jax and the club.

And Cheyenne can say being away for so long, and just knowing when she was younger she had plans to go to college, she never thought heavily on the lifestyle she grew up in. Sure, she held the hesitance of calling police and had a stash of burners. But she never thought of the sacrifices that came along with this lifestyle. She lived right on the edge that she wasn't that affected about the men's criminal empire.

And she knew with Jax that would follow her personally and professionally. Yet, she only thought of this if she would ever entertain her and Jax being a thing.

Yet, today, she knows she will have to face the consequences of another little tryst with Jax as its Opie's homecoming.

She along with Fawn and some croweaters are setting up the place while Gemma is out buying all the food and booze they need. The guys are nowhere to be found, which isn't surprising.

However as she and Fawn move tables and decorate them, her gaze keeps going back to the mug shots that were proudly on display that showcased present and past members.

All of this just felt wrong to her. Despite 9 years of absence, she didn't need to be here to know about Donna's hatred toward the club.

"Why is your face all scrunched up?" Fawn asks her as she wipes down a table with Lysol wipes. Cheyenne thinks these tables need to be soaked in bleach for them to really be clean.

Luckily, they are the only two inside. The croweaters have scurried off to the front and maybe the back bedrooms.

"Doesn't all this seem wrong?"

Fawn frowns. "Throwing Opie a party?"

Cheyenne shakes her head. "Throwing the party here."

It doesn't seem right that Opie will be spending most of the day here at the clubhouse when he needs to be a home with Donna and the kids. Inevitably it's just going to put Donna on the spot in confronting her feelings about her husband being home and what the means for him and his relationship with the club. Besides, there were two kids who didn't really know their father and they would be seeing everyone else being happy about his return when they really didn't have a reason why.

For a moment, Cheyenne thinks Fawn would be on Donna's side, but her words prove otherwise. "Donna knew who she was marrying. If she was really unhappy she would've left five years ago."

Cheyenne looks at her friend and thinks she's is a complicated mess. And as much as she loves her friend, she wants to open her mouth about the fact she and her brother would never work between. Fawn is too much of a constant push and pull. She wants to ask what is keeping Fawn here as all there seems to be is anger towards an absent father and her meager job as a waitress at Lumpy's.

"It isn't that simple." Cheyenne tells her. There are kids in the mix. History that Donna has to fight to face the present, but most importantly it's her heart fighting a battle. "Love isn't that simple. It's complicated and messy."

"Sounds like you're speaking from experience."

Cheyenne shakes her head because she wasn't. She believes she never really experienced a relationship that had some intense burning love. She has only received headaches from men. But she grew up around other couples. "I've had experience in seeing a lot of relationships."

Fawn bites her lip as she leans against a table. "Is that what makes Lip and Nina so difficult."

Cheyenne looks at her friend cautiously. This is the first time Fawn has ever mentioned Lip and Nina in the same sentence. Cheyenne knows that it would be the perfect time to ask Fawn about what she is doing with Lip, but she doesn't.

"I think Lip doesn't know how to separate the love he has for Nina for giving him Isla to just Nina herself. Those two seem to be interconnected." She tells her friend.

Cheyenne also thinks her brother hates himself for loving Nina in a way that matters. The way they grew up watching their mother and father.

Their conversation comes to a halt as Half Sack comes in carrying a box of booze followed by a blonde biker Cheyenne was doing everything in her power to avoid.

"How you girls doing?" Jax asks as he looks between the two of them. She purposefully makes herself look busy scrubbing a table.

"I think you guys need to audition more croweaters," Fawn chirps as she looks at the empty bottle of Lysol wipes. "Ugh, Half Sack, you're coming with me. We need some more cleaning supplies."

"I don't know why you guys are scrubbing things down, it's only going to get dirty again," Jax points out.

"One this is a family orientated event we don't need to be sitting on my long lost kids from you guys," Fawn quips. "You boys are fucking disgusting."

Cheyenne doesn't even hide her grimace at Fawn's words.

"Fawn do you even know half of the weird shit your dad does?" Jax counters and eyes the bar where even Cheyenne cringes at. Cheyenne does not want to know what Tig has done to that bar.

"What dad are you talking about?" Fawn remarks innocently as she grabs her purse and drags the Prospect out the door.

Just like that she is left alone with Jax. Just her fucking luck, she thinks.

Luckily, she still has a few wipes left and she begins cleaning the tables, but she can feel Jax's eyes on her every move.

"Are you going to continue to stare or you going to say something?" She says. She thinks she has never seen the clubhouse so empty and deserted.

"I don't want things to be weird." Jax starts. "I also don't want you to think I'm treating you like some sort of sweetbutt."

"Jax, I was a willing participate of what happened." She replies.

"Do you think about what happened at Wahewa?" He asks her.

"If I didn't I don't think we would be where we are now." She tells him. Despite the distance and seeing him over holiday breaks, it was always in the back of her mind. "Do you?"

"More than I should." He answers her.

Cheyenne plays with the lid of the Lysol canister. "I don't want to mess up our friendship Jax because of whatever the fuck we're doing."

"What are we doing?"

"I don't fucking know that's the problem," she tells him.

They both can tell this conversation is going nowhere and right now in such a public space isn't exactly a good time to hash out their feelings. Instead Jax runs a hand down his face before he turns back to look at her. "I'm going down to Chino with Donna to pick up Opie. After the party and stuff, we should talk."

Cheyenne nods her head stiffly. After all, his dick was in her mouth and they already had sex, the least she could do was have an adult conversation.

"Jax," she calls out to him as he heads to the door.

"Yeah?"

"Ride safe."

"Always."

…

Harry Winston is a free fucking man.

After five years in Chino Correctional Facility, Opie is free from prison bars, shitty food, and washing skids from underwear. Now he is about to be back in Charming free from having to watch where he took his piss and shit.

He is finally reunited with his family and even if his kids looked at him like a stranger and Donna didn't know whether to hug him or slap him, he would take that any day over rotting another day in a jail cell. But the one thing that hadn't left him and he knows wouldn't be going away soon is his insomnia. He doesn't know if it is just the excitement from his release, or the fact his mind is going haywire about where his life is going to go after this and what his release meant for his family.

But sleeping with one eye open every night, despite the protections of the Nords, is probably the cause of his restlessness.

Despite not wanting to leave his family in the motel room, he thinks he can use a smoke. Relax some of his nerves. Besides he doesn't have to trade the beloved sticks of nicotine for contraband.

He steps outside onto the balcony and he surprised to find Jax up smoking a cigarette.

"Hey," Jax greets after taking a long drag of his cigarette. Thankfully they can skip the formalities of asking how he feels to be out and all the other bullshit. They both did time and Jax knows how he feels. How it feels to taste freedom again.

Instead Opie asks about the one thing he can while Donna is asleep. "How's the club?"

Jax levels him with a look that he can't probably read in the moonlight. "Business is the usual. It's quiet outside of the Mayans occasionally wanting to show whose dick is bigger, but nothing that could get us on the Feds radar."

"How's Charming?"

"Hale looks for any opening he can do bring some franchise or development, but it fails every time. Although Cheyenne's back." Jax tells him with a smile.

Opie flashes his own teeth at the thought of Cheyenne, a girl who was much like the sister he never had. She hadn't been able to see him in the past few months as she told him that she was busy racking up hours for her residency.

Despite living for her visits, he couldn't begrudge her. After all, she has become a fucking doctor. He is proud of her.

"Maybe we should all head to the cabin. Enjoy the Pollyanna phase of my release before it's back to reality."

Jax nods his head and he looks back to the motel room that encases the Winston family. "That'll work itself out, bro."

"I hope so," Opie mutters as he tries not to think of Donna's cold gaze as Jax handed him his leather kutte.

…

Cheyenne is sitting on Lip's bed as he lathers himself down in some lotion and after shave. Cheyenne is already dressed up in a red backless dress with skinny straps, a high rounded neckline that crisscross and tie over an alluring open back with scalloped trim. It's an outfit that she knows it probably going to be the most conservative.

Lip is already in his usual jeans and plan navy t-shirt.

Isla has decided she wanted to spend the day with Gemma and would meet them at the clubhouse.

"Does the situation with Opie worry you especially since you have Isla?"

Nina isn't a suitable caregiver and if her brother would get locked up there is a chance that if Nina ever got her shit together it could be used against him. Luckily the only time Lip was locked up was when Nina was sober for once and Isla was two years old.

Lip nods his head. "I do. But it gives me a good reason not to do stupid reckless shit. Club has been quiet, Chey."

"It won't always be, Lip." She informs her brother. Once in a while a storm will have to brew before it regresses back to normal. "Besides, I'm not just talking about the obvious jail time. She's going to question you on the club and what you do."

"You think I don't know that," Lip snaps. "You don't think I already don't know she knows who her father is."

Cheyenne frowns as she doesn't mean to upset her brother, but he needs to hear this especially if Isla is so close to the Winston family. "There's going to come a chance where someone else will tell the truth before you."

"Where is this all coming from?"

Cheyenne honestly doesn't know, but its truth that inevitable. "Donna seems so sad." She tells him as she thinks of the prison widow. The short brunette woman always looks sad, angry, and lonely. "Nina was sad." She points out and her brother can't hide the wince.

Cheyenne fully believes that the sin of Nina continually shooting up drugs is on her. Yet, they can't overlook what makes her turn to $40 fixes then her own husband. The causes of why she prefers drugs over him and their daughter. Cheyenne could bet the club plays a role in that. After all as much as she loves her brother and supports him, he has flaws and faults that destroyed their doomed marriage. "It's the women that inevitably suffer not the men." She says to him.

…

Gemma can say she is honestly impressed with how well Cheyenne and Fawn cleaned the place up for Opie's homecoming / 4th of July party. She could say it was nice for once to step back and not be in control of this. Besides it wasn't as if the efforts would be appreciated.

Gemma never had a problem with Donna per say. After all, the women didn't bail and when the ATF swooped in after flagging Opie's connection to the club, she didn't rat or budge. And Donna earned more respect from Gemma. Even if Donna wouldn't acknowledge it, she was an old lady through and through. She thinks that's why Donna is so angry because she has become what she swore she wouldn't be.

But after five years, Gemma is done psychoanalyzing Donna Winston. Opie's home now and the concern for his family are back in his hands. She loves Ope, but this situation isn't something she could interfere with. It wasn't her place, for now. If their shit started affecting the club then she would nub that shit in the bub.

Besides, Gemma is more concerned for the new, but familiar face back on the lot. Since Cheyenne's return, she hasn't really gotten to have one on one time with the girl she practically raised like her own flesh and blood.

It wasn't as if Cheyenne is drastically different. She is the same girl for the most part, quiet and reserved. But Gemma isn't blind. Cheyenne now possesses a body of a woman. Black long hair with bright wide and round grey eyes and even worse she has fucking brains.

It is a combination that is deadly to her son.

She knew the two of them were close when they were young. Always had been, but she isn't blind to how Jax eyes her as she grew up. They were always too in sync with each other. Gemma felt like she didn't know everything that was going on between the two. That scared her. With Lip, he is an easy book to read. Cheyenne is an enigma. You never knew what was going on unless she wanted you to know.

Besides she isn't blind to the fact that after Isla's dance recital the two had disappeared and when Chey returned she looked a little flush. She would like to think Jax wouldn't screw around with Cheyenne considering Lip was a patched member, but she knew it would fit the MO of her son.

Gemma finds the raven hair beauty standing in a corner watching the party. She sort of sticks out wearing a bright wear sundress that showcase toned legs and her curves, for a minute she looks like her mother.

God, Gemma hasn't thought about Cheryl Darabont in years. She remembers Cheryl doing the same thing with standing in corners of parties watching everyone. It wasn't until Lionel she finally moved from the corner and the rest they say is history. Dead history.

"Enjoying the party?" Gemma asks.

"Reminds me of when I was a kid. Everyone is just waiting for the families to leave so the real party can start."

Gemma chuckles at that. "Thanks for helping set up. You and Fawn did great."

"You don't need to thank me. It was for Opie."

"Jax mentioned you used to go visit Opie in Chino." Gemma says.

Cheyenne nods her head. "Well Opie is like a brother and it wasn't a far ride. I tried my best to make sure he knew he still had people on the outside."

"You know we're real proud of you sweetheart," Gemma tells her truthfully. "And I'm glad you returned back home, I'm sure it wasn't an easy decision."

A look passes through Cheyenne's eyes and Gemma would have missed it if she wasn't trying to read something off Cheyenne. "It was actually fairly easy." Cheyenne replies as she looks back at the party. "You know Donna is looking pretty lonely, I'm going to go see if she's alright."

Gemma lets her leave without any resistance and she makes a note to remind herself to dig into Cheyenne's happenings down in college.

…

Cheyenne free from Gemma walks over to Donna, who is standing by the jukebox; there is a slightly sour look on her face. Cheyenne grabs a soda can and when she reaches the brunette offers it to her.

She knows that Donna is uncomfortable with the party. The clubhouse is the last place Donna wants to be, but she knows that right now is not the time to cause a scene or to begin washing her and Opie's dirty laundry. After all, it's only been 24 hours since he was released. What she feels now may not be there in two weeks. Although she imagines five years of anger and bitter resentment won't disappear so easily if Donna's behavior is any indication.

"You doing okay?" Cheyenne asks her.

"Actually I'm good for now. I can make it a couple more hours." Donna replies. "Besides, the kids are having fun and I won't have to cook tonight."

"Well you're entitled to all the leftovers."

"After watching Tig double dip in everything, I'll pass." Both Donna and Cheyenne chuckle.

Donna fiddles with the pop can. "So I hear we're going to the cabin tonight."

"Huh?" Cheyenne says confused.

"Jax must've not told you."

"Told me what?"

"We're all supposed to be heading to the cabin. Me and Ope, you and Jax, Lip and Fawn –"

"I heard my name," Fawn says jumping into the conversation.

"Apparently, we're going to the cabin tonight." Cheyenne states.

"Oh yeah, for old time sake," Fawn says. "It'll be fun and the preferred party honestly. Besides, you should try and find someone to bring." Fawn says winking at her.

"What?"

Fawn stands next to Cheyenne and wraps her arms around her shoulder. Cheyenne looks at Donna with a raised eyebrow, but the mother of two shrugs her shoulders.

"Cheyenne, you come in here wearing red giving all these guy's hard-ons, knowing that they are not brave enough to approach."

Cheyenne rolls her eyes. "You're being ridiculous."

"No I'm not," Fawn insists and looks at Donna for to back her up.

Donna eventually shrugs her shoulders.

Fawn sighs. "When's the last time you had a good fuck?"

Donna coughs on her soda.

"Oh, Jesus, Fawn. Really?" Cheyenne groans as she rolls her eyes. She doesn't even give her friend a response as she scans the party and feeling a pair of eyes on her, they connect with the cool blue ones of Jax's.

…

A couple hours later, Cheyenne finds herself outside in the woods, an almost two hours outside of Charming. Cheyenne at first thought they were going to go to Piney's cabin, but Fawn snorted as she drove to the secluded cabin.

Cheyenne leans forward as she gathers some of the warmth from the fire pit. Donna is wrapped up in Opie's arms and for the first time that night, the couple look relaxed. Fawn and Lip are next to each other. Legs brushing together and Cheyenne rolls her eyes as the two are often caught in long hooded stares.

She's next to Jax, who is sitting upright intent on rolling a joint. They all talk and laugh about the past. The various shit Lip, Opie, and Jax would get themselves into despite knowing nothing got past Jax's drill sergeant of a mother. Of course, Cheyenne's and Fawn's dirty laundry got aired and considering Fawn's sperm donor, there is some crazy shit Cheyenne got mixed up into because of association instead of doing. Cheyenne can still remember sitting in the Principal's office with Gemma, Tig, and Fawn with Martha Wheeler and her mother Gretchen. Cheyenne and Fawn were accused of filling the girl's locker with honey and rigging shaving cream mixed with food dye to spray in her face. Till this day neither of them had ever copped to doing the deed despite receiving a two weeks' worth of detention.

Soon, Jax passes his joint around and the night gets darker and despite loosened tongues from the weed and alcohol, they stick to talking about the past as the present seems too heavy to discuss. And Cheyenne finds she is okay with that.

But soon Donna and Opie are claiming they want to take advantage of Neeta watching the kids at Gemma's. The reunited couple bid goodbye to make most of the rest of their night. Cheyenne isn't surprised that Lip claims that Fawn needs an escort and Fawn is all too eager to agree.

Then it's just her and Jax, but she isn't ready to go back to Charming. Not yet at least. She says as much to Jax as they move the party of two back inside.

Cheyenne grabs them a couple beers from the fridge and Jax is lighting up the fireplace more for the light than the warmth.

"Too bad we don't have any marshmallows and chocolate," she tells him as she sits on the couch.

"I'll make sure to have the Prospect bring some up here for the future." Jax replies as he plops down on the couch.

"When was the last time this place was even used?" She asks as she eyes the dusty furniture.

"Not for a while. Piney sometimes disappears up here, but you know he ain't cleaning shit." Jax tells her, which she agrees on.

She leans her head back on the couch as she plays with the tab of her beer. "Donna seemed more relax when we were here than the clubhouse." She points out.

"I think my mom puts her on edge." Jax says truthfully. And he knows how his mom is when it comes to the club and with how Donna was acting she didn't exactly hide how she felt about it.

"I know since I was away…I don't really know the struggle she went through, but I hope they can work it out for themselves."

Jax nods his head as he agrees on that. He knows five years was a long time for his brother and that he is also a different man. But he looks at Cheyenne and furrows his brows. "You know you never talk about your time away."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I thought you would talk about some of the friends you made, professors…maybe for you to brag, I guess." He tells her even though he knows Cheyenne was never the type to brag. He just thought he would hear more because it wasn't as if he wasn't asking for details. "Lip used to considering all the offers you were supposedly getting down there. I think he even tracked down one of those journals you were published in."

"It was school, Jax. Not much to brag about." Cheyenne replies. "Plus nothing exciting really happened."

It wasn't home.

"No friends?" He ponders.

"I did have a few close ones," she says and she shakes her head. She had a lot of friends and colleagues, but she knows her abrupt departure fractured some of that. And she knows how fast gossip ran through hospitals and she could only imagine what was being said. Since she came home, she tried her best not to think about the driving force that drew her back home and to pull her plug on her residency for Charming.

"What happened?"

"I came home, Jax." She tells him and she shivers at memories she does her best to block away. Because she's home and safe. And she does her best not to think about how being with Jax is the safest she felt in a long time.

"You cold?" Jax asks mistaking the shudder of memories for coldness.

"Maybe a little." She tells him.

Jax brings his arm around her and some of the tension of the memories leaves her body. She thinks Jax's body is too comfortable and right now would be the perfect time to talk about their heated moments of their relationship. But neither of them seems in a hurry to break the silence.

Instead, his hands run through her hair and she knows if she was a cat she would be purring as she moves closer to him.

Jax fights back the smile as Cheyenne seems to melt into him. He likes how easily she seems to melt into him as he drifts from her long black hair to her shoulders and exposed back thanks to her dress.

Jax leans his head down as he looks at her. He has always known that Cheyenne was beautiful. Even when she was a little girl, she possessed something that they all knew would cause hell when she grew up. But now, she is something fierce that went along with her beauty. She is something that he knows no man, including him, would be able to possess or own. His hand that is rubbing soothing patterns on her shoulder trails up and tangles in her hair. He tilts her head so she's looking at him cheeks flushed from their drinks and maybe a bit of something else. He knows this is too dangerous for them being left alone in a whole cabin together.

"Ready for bed?" He asks her lowly. His eyes trail from her lips to her grey eyes.

"To go to bed or to go to sleep?" She replies boldly. All inhibitions go straight out the fucking window.

Lips clash desperately together. She welcomes the kiss readily. She tastes sweet, intoxicating, and his memory surfaces from a couple weeks ago and then back to Wahewa. But even before that when she was still only 17 and innocent. It's familiar, but yet still different.

Wrapping his arm around her waist, he brings her to his lap, straddling him, thighs encasing him.

His warm hand creeps under her dress. He gropes her above the thin lacy fabric of her panties. Cheyenne moans into his mouth. Her hands are anchored in his long blonde tresses.

His fingers skim over her hips and she jumps when he pushes the lacy boy shorts to the side and pets her clit. She buries her face into his neck as he eases steadily between her folds. Her hips are quivering as she matches the slow pace of his fingers.

Her lips travel across his jaw and down his neck as her hands come down and begin to pop open the button of his jeans. He can tell she is insistent about removing his clothes, but they go unheeded as he speeds up his pace, he can feel her eyelashes fluttering against his neck. Her body begins to coil and he brings her head up as he brings her into a burning and bruising kiss as he feels the flutter of her walls.

She falls boneless against him as he fingers her to completion. He peppers her skin with kisses and lovebites. When her cumbersome dress gets in the way, he easily unzips it and watches as it falls down her shoulders revealing her bare chest, nipples pebbled they almost look painful. Jax licks his lips at this. She sits upright as she drops her arms and the dress falls completely until it is scrunched up her lower abdomen and her thighs.

His hand comes back up and clutches her face, and molds their mouths together. She easily indulges him as his tongue darts in her mouth, swiping against her own.

But she pushes him back against the couch and he easily let's her take control as she tugs his kutte off and many layers leaving him in just his jeans. Her grey eyes are set ablaze with lust as she yanks him back to her in a hungry kiss, tongue invading his mouth. Her hips grind against him and when he is about to flip their position on the couch, she pulls back from his lips, hers swollen and voice husky, "Take me to bed?"

He doesn't need to be asked twice.

Cheyenne clings to his shoulder as he picks her up and she kisses him silly as he makes the short trek to one of the bedrooms. He almost abandons the search for the bed for the comfort of the wooden floor as she nips on his lips and he can feel her wetness against his belly.

Reaching a room, he plops her onto the bed. Her back bounces against the lumpy, old mattress as the springs protest as Jax covers her. He pulls her dress off her and collects her panties and throws them to the floor.

Cheyenne frees him from his constricting gear and along with his jeans his black briefs find a home on the floor as he kicks them off along with his shoes and socks. She pulls him plush against her and he eases between her thighs.

She chokes out a moan as she tilts her hips to meet his as he fills her up. Jax chuckles at the sound and presses kisses to her vibrant neck. He thinks she feels even better than he fucking remembered as she uses her muscle to squeeze. "Shit, Chey," he groans as he tries not to bust his load right there and then. He looks down at her hair flared across the pillow, lips red and swollen, with purple and red bites littering her neck. Jax thinks he is one fucking lucky man. He brings her into a long, slow kiss that is surprisingly gentle.

Cheyenne sighs into his mouth as his pelvis crashes into her own. He has a bruising grip on her hip as he goes back to leaving little red hickies on the swells of her breasts. The pace feels experimental as if he is trying to find the rhythm that's right for them. Cheyenne thinks this is different from Wahewa, where he was more rough and desperate.

"Jax," she moans as despite him making her fill full, she needs some more. Jax seems to sense that.

Soon Jax changes their position as he moves her leg from his waist up to his shoulder and sets a punishing pace. Cheyenne eyes practically roll to the back of her head. "Shit," she stutters out from the angle of his thrusts.

He presses a kiss to her pulse point from where his head is buried in her neck. "Fuck," he curses as he slams into her G-Spot, her tight heat encasing him.

Each thrust of his hips shakes her body beneath him. She's so damn close as her quads quiver from their position. She's right on the edge of oblivion when he brings her knees flush against her chest and sends her to a vicious orgasm. Her vision is blurry and her head spins, but he fucks her straight through it all. He captures her mouth in a searing kiss and she swallows his blissful moan as he finds his release. She's overstimulated and shuddering as his hips do shallow thrusts and the feel of him filling her up.

Her chest burns desperate for air as he goes rigid on top of her and crumples into her chest as if he simply belongs there – fits there.

But her mind doesn't venture too far as sleep possesses her body.

…

Cheyenne wakes up feeling sore and crinkles her nose at the assault of stale linen. But, she finds that wasn't what woke her up; it was the pressing of her bladder. It's then she recognizes her surroundings and the arm draped across her waist and the source of her soreness.

Luckily, she knows that Jax is a deep sleeper when his guard is down. She's easily able to crawl out from under his arm and sneak into the bathroom. She relieves her bladder, but she cringes at the state of her body or more so the mess between her thighs.

After waking up from the first round, Cheyenne had dashed up from the bed to pee and clean the mess. When she came back from the bathroom, she found Jax awake laying in the bed, climbing back into bed, he then proceeded to spend the next thirty minutes fucking her.

She knows that the two of them have just created a bigger mess for themselves. But for now she decides the only thing she needs to focus on is a shower.

Feeling fresh and renewed and not like the personal cum dumpster of Jax Teller, with a towel wrapped around her body, she heads back into the bedroom where Jax is still sleeping softly. She finds her dress on the floor and slips it over her heated skin.

She unsure of whether she should wake him up or let him sleep, but her cowardliness gets the best of her as she thinks she can use some time for herself so she can think about the next course of action. She leaves the bedroom and heads down the hallway and into the living room where she finds her underwear and Jax's shirt and kutte. She folds his shirt and places it on the coffee table and lays his kutte across from it. Considering her only ride out of here is on the back of Jax's bike, she puts her underwear back on.

"I think they look better off."

Cheyenne jumps as she flattens her skirt at the sound of his husky voice laden with sleep. Thankfully he decided to slip his boxers and jeans on.

With him shirtless, she eyes the group of hickeys on his neck. Her neck looks even worse.

"How you feeling?" He asks her.

"Fine. You?"

"I feel like a leper," he tells her with a teasing glint as he eyes the work he has done on her.

"My chest is even worse." She tells him.

"I would say I was sorry," he says unapologetically.

Cheyenne folds her arms across her chest. "I don't want to reduce what happened or has happened as a mistake."

He nods his head and he looks away his face scrunched in thought before he turns back to her. "Where does this go, Chey?"

"I don't know." She tells him with a frown. "But until we do…I don't think…I don't think I can be alone with you."


	8. Results

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** As promised an update. We got a couple more chapters before we finally hit season one territory. Also since I've been getting a lot of reviews about Cheyenne's indecisiveness. I wrote a thing on tumblr addressing it. As always thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows!

until then.

* * *

"I feel bad for lying." Fawn tells Lip as they lay in her bed in her apartment.

If there was one thing Fawn hated most then anything in this world was lies.

She remembers growing up and hearing every lie her father would spew to her mother for the club. She can remember the fights that would start as her mom would always dig and dig for the truth. She thinks her parents could've lasted if Tig would've just been truthful. He didn't need to be faithful all her mom wanted was the truths.

But she knows with the club, everything is wrapped in lies. What's worse is they are so good with spewing lies like they are the Gospel truth.

And she knows Lip doesn't tell her the truth either. She knows that she isn't entitled to them. After all, she isn't his old lady.

Lip moves next to her as he runs his hands through his growing hair. He squints at the clock and sighs as he plops back down on the bed.

"Not everyone needs to know our business," he tells her as he closes his eyes again.

Fawn rolls her eyes and has the nerve to kick him out of her bed. She has half the nerve to ask if that's what he tells himself when it comes to keeping things under wraps from his sister.

Fawn herself wonders when she even found herself being some dirty little secret or worse a booty call. She personally didn't care about the club politics of her being a member's daughter and him being a member. She was quite vocal with Lip that club shit was practically irrelevant to her.

Fawn keeps her lips sealed as she leans up and grabs her pack of cigarettes and lights up. She thinks maybe she needs to find an actual boyfriend. Or better yet actually make something out of her life. All she has is her job at the diner and she can waitress anywhere. Better yet, she can get way better tips probably anywhere better than Charming.

Instead, for some sentimental bullshit reasons, she decided to stay here with the makeshift family she has only ever known. Besides, she couldn't see herself living with her crazy ass mother and sister.

But now she is going to be hitting 30 in a few short years. She has no personal accomplishments she is exactly proud of. No man or family to show off. And she lives in a crummy apartment.

All she has is Isla and now Cheyenne. Even then Isla isn't even her own daughter and Cheyenne has her blossoming career. Fawn personally thinks Charming is a small detour before Cheyenne finds something better. Her friend just doesn't realize it yet.

Thinking about her friend, she is reminded that she hasn't spoken to her since Opie's welcome home party. She is reminded that her friend was left alone with Jax.

Fawn sucks on her cigarette a little harder as she thinks about the Prince of Charming. She doesn't know how no one else cannot see it that he's been circling around Cheyenne. Ever since Cheyenne got a pair of tits, Fawn has noticed Jax can't keep his eyes to her face.

Cheyenne, of course, was a little harder to read and never shown any real interest in Jax. But Jax had a silver tongue and she wouldn't be surprised if her friend did fall victim to it.

God, Fawn thinks she must be bored if she is even thinking that Jax and Cheyenne were fucking.

"You're thinking pretty hard over there."

Fawn looks down at Lip. She thinks if Jax and Cheyenne were really fucking Jax wouldn't hide it. Better yet, Cheyenne wouldn't have to worry about an ex-wife.

In that moment, Fawn decides she can't do this anymore. She needs something more than just fucking. She sits all the way up and puts out her cigarette in the ashtray. She brings up her knees to her chest and wraps her arms around her shins.

Lip is a beautiful man. She doesn't remember his parents much, but from pictures he resembles his father the most especially in body. Fawn bites her bottom lip as Lip is truly specimen of a man. He is actually the most muscular member of the club. And damn she loves how big his tattoo muscular arms are. The things his pouty lips are capable of and despite his self-consciousness about them, she even likes his big pointy ears.

But despite all that he technically wasn't hers.

She knows about the other women – the croweaters, swettbutts. They don't sting as bad. In fact, considering the situation, they don't bother her. It wasn't as if Lip flaunted it, the only reason she did know was because men gossiped worse than women. The only thing that would hurt her the most is if he is still messing around with Nina.

And right there, now she knows how all this started the actual start. It all could be pinpointed back to Nina.

Everyone knew about the tragedy of Lip's and Nina's marriage, but most of all knew the child that was stuck witnessing the mess.

Even if Fawn hated the club, it didn't mean she didn't love the men that grew up with her. And she knows how it is to grow up witnessing a mess of a marriage. So it wasn't hard for her to volunteer to help out with Isla.

With helping out, it meant seeing a different side of Lip or better yet getting to know the side of Lip she hadn't seen before Nina.

And it was after another one of Nina's overdose as it had been years since Lip had even shared a bed with her that she found Lip on her doorstep in the middle of the night. And she let him in.

Despite that she found herself not asking about his estranged wife. Instead, she got used to Lip seeking her out when Nina would do something to piss him off. So there was no point in even asking.

"How's Nina doing these days?" She asks him.

He visibly recoils from the question. "Why in the fuck would you ask me that?"

"You're still married Lip," Fawn points out.

"Yeah, thanks for that fucking reminder." He grumbles as he swings his legs off the bed.

"I just want to know where things are going Lip." She tells him.

"With her or you?" He asks as he searches for his clothes.

"Both."

Lip looks at her as he belts his belts. "Why are you doing this now?"

"The real question is why I haven't done it sooner."

"You know how I feel about Nina."

"No, I don't," Fawn replies. "I don't know shit about how you feel about her."

Lip snorts. "Oh that's fucking rich. If you think I had an ounce of feelings for her that I would be here with you."

"Right now, I'm no different than a fucking croweater and you can still fuck someone who you don't have feelings for. If you would like to know it doesn't take much to get your dick hard." Fawn growls.

"Fuck you, Fawn." Lip barks as he throws on his shirt on.

"Funny, I did that last night."

"Why are you being such a fucking bitch," he mutters and his eyes soften just a little.

"Do you still love her, Lip?"

"The fact you even have to ask that…" Lip says and then trails off.

Fawn looks away from him. "You should just go."

He does.

…

Lip thinks he is just going to stay single for the rest of his miserable life. Women are just not his niche or maybe Nina just ruined him and his way to properly function in one. He angrily stalks into the clubhouse and he finds Jax sitting at the bar jerking the Prospect's chain. He lets the doors slam behind him and Jax turns over to look at him with a raised brow. He plops down on the barstool and tells the Prospect to just give him a whole bottle of Vodka.

He doesn't even care that Jax motions for the Prospect to get lost. From the corner of his eye, he can see Jax eye him.

Lip sighs. "Ask what you fucking want."

Jax raises his eyebrows and knows that the only reason he would let Lip talk to him that way is because both of them grew up as brothers.

He also knows that can't be about Nina.

"Is it Fawn?"

Lip's back straightens as this is the first time anyone has directly acknowledged him and Fawn being something.

"I don't know what the fuck to do when it comes to women," Lip admits.

"What happened?"

"She was just asking what we were and shit and it just escalated."

"Are you guys together?" Jax asks.

Lip sighs. "In a way. It's complicated. She's complicated."

"Do you love her?"

Lip blows a raspberry as he leans forward and rubs his hands together. "You know Cheyenne said something to me the other day about the struggles women face being with us. It's not easy Jax and we both know that. I love Fawn to know that she deserves better."

Jax shakes his head. "So you're saying Isla deserves a better father too?"

"She does. And Cheyenne deserves a better brother because I should've told her to go away than come back home. I would hate to be part of the reason of why she is stuck here and even worse to fall in love with an idiot in this town."

…

Cheyenne has just gotten her feet through the front door when her cellphone begins to ring. Grumbling she scours through her purse for the device and gives up looking for it as she pours the bag on the table.

Finding the mobile device, she sees it's Fawn.

"Hello?" She answers.

"I hope you're ready to go out and have some drinks!" Fawn shouts through the phone.

Cheyenne sighs. Tomorrow is her only day off until next week and she decided to pick up hours and do 12 hour shifts. She wants to spend the day in bed and sleep until her next shift. Usually she would be able to muster up some energy, but now she just feels bone tired. "Fawn, I'm really tired."

"Well take a quick power nap and get your ass over to my place," Fawn orders before hanging up.

Cheyenne purses her lips at the phone and knows better to argue or piss off a Trager. Grumbling she shoves the mess she made on the table back in her purse and she finds Neeta coming out of the laundry room.

"You okay sweetie?"

"I'm okay. I was wondering if you could stay extra tonight?"

Neeta nods her head. "I'm used to the late nights. You go have fun. It looks like you need it."

…

After a quick nap, Cheyenne finds her way to Fawn's place. Using her extra key, she walks right through the door and her stomach almost protests at the smell of nicotine. Fawn skips out of her room wearing only her underwear.

"You expecting a booty call?"

Fawn rolls her eyes as she beckons her into her room. Cheyenne immediately spreads across the bed. "So what's the cause of celebration?" Cheyenne asks.

"We're both young and single. It's time to put our Kegels to use." Fawn tells her as she slides on a Bodycon little red dress.

"Why can't we just watch a movie and drink a glass of wine?"

Fawn rolls her eyes. "I'm not at that point in my life yet."

"Well I am." Cheyenne mutters while Fawn disappears into her closest and come back out with a double sequin slip dress. Cheyenne groans. "If I bend over people are going to see my ass."

"That's the point," Fawn says as she wiggles the dress. "Why are you being so grouchy? It's Friday."

Cheyenne bites the retort that she actually as an exhausting job as she sits up from the bed and takes the dress. She doesn't know why she is so crabby to her friend.

Cheyenne stands up and quickly begins removing her clothes. "You're lucky I shaved."

"I hoped you shaved between the legs," Fawn mutters and peeks at her, but then does a double take. "Were you nipples always that dark?"

Cheyenne looks down. Her once light pink nipples were now a dark color. "Well they've been sore lately." She tells her friend.

"Like about to get your period sore?" Fawn inquires.

"Sort o –" Cheyenne freezes at the mention of her period.

"Chey?"

"Oh my god," Cheyenne mutters.

"Oh my god, what!" Fawn exclaims.

Cheyenne grabs her purse and rummages for her small calendar and flips through the pages to find when her last period was, which a week before July 4th was. It's almost six weeks. Six weeks since her last period.

"Chey, what the fuck is it!"

"I need a pregnancy test." She tells Fawn.

Fawn's eyebrows furrow. Her mouth opens then closes a few times before her hands goes to her hips. "Who in the hell have you been fucking?"

"Fawn!"

"It's a valid fucking question," she replies and then she rummages in her bottom drawer of her nightstand and produces a pack of pregnancy test.

Cheyenne looks at them questionably. "Hey, the best contraceptive is abstinence and I'm not a nun."

Cheyenne doesn't comment on it, but gladly accepts the box and escapes to the bathroom. All she can think is that this is the last thing she needs in her life. A baby was not in her five year plan at all. A baby was barely in the 10 year plan considering her shit luck with men.

Cheyenne doesn't need to read the instruction to the box and immediately pulls down her underwear and pees. Not even waiting for the result of the first one, she grabs the second one and pees again on the stick. She barely has her underwear up when the first test shows her the infamous two blue lines.

"Shit."

A knock comes from the bathroom door. "Cheyenne, are you okay?"

Cheyenne doesn't say anything, but opens the door. Fawn looks at her with open concern before she walks over to the two tests that lie on the counter. The bathroom is encased in silence.

"Let's go to the living room," Fawn says as she scoops the test up. Cheyenne follows her blindly and sits on the couch. She doesn't know what she exactly feels right now. Shocked. . Maybe happy? She doesn't know.

Fawn returns still in her dress, but has a hoodie on now.

"Is it Jax's?" Fawn asks.

Cheyenne looks up at her shocked. "How –"

Fawn shrugs. "He's the only guy you have been hanging out with since you came back." Fawn nibbles on her lips. "You guys didn't use a condom?"

"Please don't rub this in my face," Cheyenne says. She knows for a doctor she is so incredibly stupid. After taking a fresh shower when she got home from the cabin that day, she had drove stealthily to Lodi and picked up Plan B, but apparently Jax's swimmers were determined. She supposes this is karma for getting off birth control.

"Are you guys together?"

"What? No. It…it just happened. It's complicated." Cheyenne stammers.

"You've slept with him more than once?" Fawn says confused.

"It's complicated." Cheyenne repeats.

"Then _un_ complicate it for me."

"It was before I left for college, okay." Cheyenne tells her. She can't tell her about him being the one to give her her first kiss or even the heated moment after Isla's recital. "And then at the cabin."

"Do you like him?"

"Obviously enough to sleep with him," Cheyenne snaps.

Fawn doesn't take offense instead she decides to drop the bombshell of her best friend fucking Jackson Teller under their noses. "Are you going to keep it?"

"I just found out. I don't know what I'm going to do." Cheyenne tells her as she buries her face in her hands and begins to cry.

…

On Monday, on her break, she made an appointment with Doctor Reed, who easily slides her in. Doctor Reed had been nothing but help since she began her residency. She's also the only doctor she knows she can trust with the news of this surprise pregnancy. Doctor Reed doesn't give away if she is shocked by the pregnancy happening. She's all smiles as she reads over the bloodwork and hovers over her belly with the wand to hear her baby's heartbeat. She had confirmed what she already knew, which was that she was pregnant. About 5 weeks. Her baby is only as big as an apple seed.

After the appointment, Doctor Reed had told her that until the risk of miscarriage decreased that she should lighten her workload especially after revealing the father's history of congenital heart defect. With the rest of her day cleared, she heads over to the pharmacy to pick up her prescriptions.

Even then carrying some of the nutrients for her growing child it seems unreal. She doesn't feel pregnant. On Friday, going out was quickly scrapped and she found herself sitting numb at Fawn's. Saturday and Sunday she was busy at work and thankfully outside of the sore boobs and some fatigue she didn't feel like she was pregnancy. She didn't feel that bond most mothers proclaim they had once discovering they were with child.

Instead, she does her best to avoid thinking about babies as thinking about babies means thinking about the change her life is about to go through. It means thinking about the fact she is carrying Jackson Teller's child.

And since that night in the cabin, she has done her best to avoid being near him. It was too lethal being in such close proximity with him. It was dangerous considering she didn't know her feelings when it came to that man.

And now she is having his goddamn child.

She's carrying her prescriptions and getting ready to head out the door when her attention is caught by a flash of brown and someone taking out groceries out of the basket. She realizes it's Donna Winston and the people in the line are whispering about how she can't even afford her groceries.

It's easy for her to grab the items Donna left on the conveyer belt and purchase them for her. Carrying the plastic bags, she finds Donna stuffing what she could afford in her car.

"Donna!" She shouts.

Donna seems embarrass to see her even more when Cheyenne holds up the two bags of groceries.

"You didn't need to do that." Donna tells her as she eyes the bags.

"It's fine, Donna." She says as she hands them over. "You don't need to feel ashamed."

Donna snorts. "I can't even afford to feed my kids."

Cheyenne knows that Opie has been pulling away as he now has a job at Oswald Lumber chipping wood 12 hours a day even with that union job, it still probably wouldn't make a decent dent in the debt she heard the Winston's were in. "Donna, if you need help just ask –"

"I'm not asking the club." Donna snaps.

"I wasn't going to say that. I was going to say you could ask me."

Donna frowns. "I'm sorry."

"Its okay." Cheyenne tells her.

"Thanks for the help, Em." Donna says and gives her a small smile before she heads back to her car and drives away.

"You didn't need to do that."

Cheyenne jumps and turns around to find Gemma approaching her.

"Plus it seems she wasn't that appreciative of the help." The biker matriarch adds.

"She's just having a tough time. It's understandable."

"It wouldn't be as bad if she didn't turn her back on the club."

Cheyenne eyes Gemma. "Maybe she wanted to prove she didn't need them."

Gemma turns to her. "Well she's going to be sorely disappointed when she realizes Opie needs them."

"Don't you think that's between her and Opie."

"I guess, but Opie is family. He doesn't need any more stress in his life. Are you okay?"

Cheyenne furrows her brows. "Yeah. Why?"

Gemma points to her pharmacy bag.

Cheyenne clutches the prenatal vitamins and for the first time feels like she is going to throw up. Gemma was the last person she needed sniffing around her. And she remembered how Gemma was a hound dog when it came to finding out secrets.

"Yeah. Everything's fine."

Gemma raises an eyebrow.

"But I gotta go and get dinner ready. I'll see you around." Cheyenne tells her as she presses a swift kiss to her cheek not giving the older woman any time to reply.

…

Jax knew it was inevitable that he would find his way back to Lip's and Cheyenne's place. It seemed Cheyenne was doing good in making sure their paths never crossed and he never went out of his way to seek her out as their last conversation ran through his mind. He didn't know what he wanted when it came to Cheyenne. The only thing he could admit was that she just seemed to fit in his life like she always did. But that didn't mean they were destined to be together or some shit.

So he didn't even hesitate when Lip invited him over to bullshit around as they worked on a bike Lip was restoring. Whatever was going on between him and Fawn seemed to have settled and Lip was in a great mood. They were in the middle of talking about Tig's latest disturbing antics he puts the croweaters through when a car begins to pull into the driveway.

Jax realizes it's Cheyenne and he can tell she is not prepared to see him.

She slowly gets out of her car and he can't see her eyes as she has sunglasses on, but he can feel her eyes are scrutinizing him.

"Hey, guys." She greets.

"Hey sis." Lip greets and Jax gives her a small smile.

She looks like she is about to say something else, but she hightails it back into the house.

Lip watches his sister's exit with a frown. "She's been acting weird."

"What do you mean?"

"She's been skittish or she gets these long thousand yard stares almost. Fucking weird. I don't know if it's that time of the month or what. But I don't like it." Lip tells him.

"You haven't asked her about it?"

"No."

Jax almost rolls his eyes.

"If I did I wouldn't even get a straight answer. You know how she is. Beats around the bush."

Jax opens his mouth to say something else, but Lip's alarm on his phone goes off. "Hey, I got to pick up Isla from dance. You hanging around."

Jax knows he shouldn't, but he nods his head.

Lip hops in his SUV as it's much more kid friendly than the bike and pulls out the driveway. Jax stands in the garage for a few minutes before he finds the courage to walk into the house. He finds Cheyenne in the kitchen and looks like she is getting ready to make spaghetti and meatballs. She has changed into some short shorts and an oversized SAMCRO shirt.

He walks more into the kitchen. He grips the back of the barstool at the breakfast bar.

"You've been avoiding me."

"I've been working." She responds not looking at him.

"Look, I didn't mean for this to happen."

"I know." Cheyenne says and he thinks he hears a tremble in her voice.

Jax sighs as he doesn't know exactly what he wants to say, but he knows that he just wants them to get back normal. "Chey, I just –"

"I'm pregnant." She says cutting him off.

Jax doesn't think he heard her right, but she turns around and looks at him. Her eyes have unshed tears and she looks so broken.

His eyes flicker down to her stomach that is still flat and hidden by her shirt. It doesn't need to be said that it's his.

He thinks he is going to pass out and he knows he stumbles over his feet as he leaves the house.

…

Jax is surprised he even made it to his bike without face planting on the floor. Even more that he even is able to get on his bike and drive away from the Henderson household. He knows it was a dick move to just up and leave, but it is a reflex. He needed to get away from that kitchen and Cheyenne. He needed distance to process the fucking bombshell he certainly didn't expect.

Fucking pregnant.

He knows it happened that night at the fucking cabin and he curses himself for being so fucking reckless about not wearing a condom.

He is about to have a fucking kid.

And he has no idea where to go to even process this news. He knows he isn't going to go to his mom with this. Opie is at his new job. Lip is out of the question as his kid will be fatherless.

He's going to be a dad.

Someone was going to depend on him. There was going to be a piece of him and Cheyenne merged together to create this tiny human that would look up to him. _His child._

Jax heads to his father's grave.

…

"He just left?" Fawn questions over the phone.

"Yeah," Cheyenne says into the phone as she stirs the noodles to the spaghetti she's making. With Lip out with Isla get some new shoes and tights for Isla, she took advantage of the extra time to call her friend.

"What a fucking coward." Fawn growls.

"It is what it is." Cheyenne replies. As what could she really do and she didn't really judge Jax for it. It was some pretty life altering news that neither of them were exactly prepared for. Besides a part of her knows or maybe even accepted that she can raise this baby without Jax.

"What are you going to say to your brother?" Fawn asks.

Cheyenne purses her lips as she doesn't exactly know how her brother is going to react. She knows that she just needs to make sure Jax isn't near as well as guns.

"I don't know. Maybe I can hide it until I start showing."

"And have Gemma on your ass!" Fawn points out.

"I don't know. It's still too early to even begin to think about announcing anyways."

"So you're keeping the baby?"

Cheyenne looks down to her flat stomach and places a hand over her lower abdomen. "Yeah, I am."

…

Jax isn't lost on how now that Cheyenne has slapped him with news of being a father, Lip decides to bring Isla to the lot for the day as he works in the garage as summer vacation is going to end in a few weeks. He watches the father and daughter interact and he wonders if his kid will love him as much as Isla loves her dad. Despite Lip's words or doubts really, the man is a great father. Unlike most men that sat at the table, Lip is the only one who never let club business interfere with his fatherly duties. There were a few times Lip and Clay got into rows about Lip's commitments to the club. However, Lip was quick to fire back that him being a father wasn't hurting his commitment.

Unlike other guys with their ex-wives, who had full custody of their kids they barely saw, Lip is a single father raising his daughter. Sure he has his mom, Fawn, and Neeta, but he didn't let his daughter be passed around to people when he could easily watch her himself.

Jax knows that Isla is Lip's whole world. He knows that Isla thinks the world of her father.

And Jax's thoughts wonder about the baby growing in Cheyenne's stomach. If it will be a boy or girl, but he thinks it will be a boy because it just has to be. He can picture a little boy with a mop of black hair and blue eyes or maybe even grey. He thinks he wants the boy to take after Cheyenne the most with her cute nose and wide smile. The kid certainly needs to inherit Cheyenne's brains. Jax can picture him working on bikes and cars with his son even teaching him how to ride a bike.

He can see him doing all the things his own father and even Clay did with him.

He smiles at the prospect and a warm feeling feels his being.

"Jax!"

His eyes snap up to over his mother, who is scowling at him. "Are you deaf now?"

"What Ma?"

"I just wanted to know if you were okay. You seemed a little daze."

"I'm fine, Ma."

God, he still has to break the news to his mother she is going to be a grandma.

…

Covered in grease, Lip and Isla arrive home with Isla rushing to beat her father to the bathroom. Lip chuckling finds his sister sitting on the couch watching TV still in her PJ shorts and long sleeve shirt. He frowns. His sister isn't one to lounge around in PJs all day.

"You okay, sis?"

Cheyenne nods her head. "Yeah, why?"

"You just seem more tired lately always in the house."

"Lip, I've been working 12 hour shifts." She responds dryly.

"Well maybe you should cut some of those hours." He tells her pointedly.

Her eyes move from the TV to him and she scowls at him. "What are you my dad now?"

"Sue me for trying to show some concern. You don't need to be a bitch about it." He snaps back.

"So am I tired or am I a bitch?" She snarls back.

Lip doesn't even bother with a reply as he heads back to his room. He wonders how in the hell that escalated so fucking quickly and why. He and Cheyenne rarely argued and if they did the argument wasn't over something so trivial.

If anything Lip has learned to concede when it comes to women probably on their period.

…

 _A week later_

While she still can, Cheyenne has returned to walking to and from work. However on this night, she severely regrets not taking the car. Her feet ache as they had her be a floater with her working in emergency for half the day and in pediatrics and neonatal for the remaining half. It is mostly tiring considering she is around all those babies knowing that in about 7 months her child would be in one of those cribs.

Biding goodbye to the lady at the front desk and heading to the doors, she freezes in her tracks as she catches sight of Jax out front in front of his bike walking in a circle.

It's been days – almost two weeks – since he has graced her with his presence and they didn't exactly part happily. She was fine with him walking out speechless, but the days that followed she thought she would hear something from him. The very least he could've called and said he needed space.

"Are you alright, Dr. Henderson?" The secretary asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Have a good night."

The sliding doors open and she walks out to where Jax is waiting for her. He pauses when he sees her. She folds her arms across his chest. "What do you want?" She demands.

Jax stuffs his heads in his pockets. His blue eyes stare straight into her grey ones, the eye contact intimate. "I'm trying to make things right. To apologize."

Cheyenne clenches her jaw, but she walks closer to him. "I'm keeping the baby."

Jax nods his head. "I want to be there for you and the kid." He proclaims.

And damn her burgeoning pregnancy hormones. She punches him lightly in the chest before she begins crying.

He easily wraps his arms around her as he holds her tightly. He presses a kiss to her hair. One arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders, his free hand finds a home on her still flat stomach.

…

With summer coming to an end pretty soon, Isla beginning another school year, Cheyenne's return, and him just being at a different place in his life, Lip knows its time.

It's near 8 o'clock and he knows he can't delay this any longer. With the papers stuffed into a yellow envelope, he enters the house. He called her beforehand that he was coming by so he isn't surprised to find the house clean and smells like lemon.

Even more, he's not surprised to find Nina, clean, dressed in skin tight jeans and a white V-Neck tight t-shirt. She even dyed her hair to a more subdue cherry red. He knew this was going to happen. He feels slightly bad he might set her back. But they've been through this many times before and he can't keep doing this to Isla.

"Hey," she greets with a painted red smile.

For a moment he sees the girl he fell in love with. That sparkle of youth she always had. He sees Isla in her smile.

"We need to talk." He says gruffly. He needs to skip the pleasantries as this conversation will be anything but pleasant. He takes a seat at the kitchen table and he follows him.

"Lip, I just wanted to say I'm sorry and I'm really trying to get better. I've been clean for 4 weeks now." She tells him happily.

A part of him wants to retort if she was clean for a month how come she didn't make a move to contact her daughter, but he bites his lip. Because maybe she needs to be clean for a solid chunk of time before trying to find a place back in Isla's life as she was clean for almost a year before she relapsed.

"That's real good, Nina."

She smiles brightly at him. "Yeah, I've been staying away from the old friends. I also have been thinking about going back to school."

He gives her a closed mouth smile. He wonders if it would have ever worked between them. But there is just something broken in Nina that he knows he won't ever be able to fix.

"Nina, I'm happy you're clean and if you want to go back to school, I'll support it," he starts and he can see the happiness in her eyes that will soon be extinguished. "But I'll support it as a friend, the father of your daughter."

Her smile dims. "What are you saying, Lip?"

He pushes the papers he was holding in her direction.

She calmly takes the packet and reads the title paper stating the dissolution of their marriage.

She doesn't scream, cry, plead, or anything. She reads the petition over quietly.

He thinks this is going over to good.

"Did you ever love me, Phillip?" She asks him. Now he can see the unshed tears in her eyes. The fight to keep her composure. He's sure if she was high that there would be a fight about now. Things would be flung at him and nasty words would be said.

He looks at her and for the first time he feels like he can breathe. He can mourn the years he had with her. He stands up and walks over to her and brings her into him. Her face presss into his stomach. He remembers the first time he laid eyes on her when they were 14 at the drive thru Movie Theater she was throwing popcorn at David Hale and his brother. Then he remembers kissing her at 15 as he was smoking a cigarette outside of Lumpy's. She was picking up dinner for her mom and dad and she asked him for a cigarette. He remembers joking about taking the one he had and she leaned in and was the start of a shot gun turned into a heated kiss. But most of all he remembers being 21 sweaty, exhausted, and greasy holding her and Isla, a newborn baby, in his arms. They were happy and in love. Despite how fucking crazy the two of them were, they were a family.

He leans down and presses a kiss to her head. The last kiss he will ever give her. The last time he will ever embrace her and let himself feel something for her other than disgust and hatred.

He answers her question, "I did love you once."


	9. Conception

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** This is more of a filler chapter. We have one more chapter before we head into the familiar territory of season 1. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Please pardon all the grammar and spelling errors.

until then.

* * *

With Lip on a run and Isla spending the night at Donna's, Jax finds it's the perfect time to stop by and visit Cheyenne. He knocks on the door and she answers it wearing a pair of very short sleeping shorts and a button up shirt. Her black hair confined in a sloppy bun.

She wordlessly lets him in and he follows her into the living where he can see she was watching TV.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm only 7 weeks, Jax. I'm barely feeling anything." She replies as she wraps herself in her fleece blanket.

Jax thinks if anything the pregnancy has given her a smart mouth. He takes a seat on the couch as he throws his snapback on the coffee table. "Well it's not like I am exactly sure how pregnancy works."

Cheyenne looks at him through the corner of her eye. A smile tugs at her lips. "Well maybe you should invest in some pregnancy books."

Jax rolls his eyes as he leans back on the couch and looks at her. Now, there isn't any visible sign that she is pregnant. And he has enough sense to know that it will take a while for her belly to become more pronounced with his child. He remembers that much from Nina's and Donna's pregnancies.

But one day, it will be noticeable that she isn't just gaining weight and she won't be able to pass it off as anything else.

"When do you want to tell people?" He asks her.

She licks her lips and she's quiet for a moment before she turns to face him fully. "You mean when do you want to tell your mother?"

Jax lips tug up as he knows soon they need to mention something to his mom. After all it is his mother and he knows it will be worse if she just finds out doing her usual snooping.

"It's recommended to wait 10 to 12 weeks when the risk of miscarriage drops." She explains. Jax honestly never even contemplated a miscarriage happening, but he assumes most parents don't. "Besides, with Lip he has just filed the divorce papers with Nina and right now let's leave the attention on him."

Jax nods to that.

Since Lip has made it official that he was going to become a free man, he has been different. Almost lighter it seems. Yet, it has been noted that Nina has become quiet. Lip doesn't seem to mind it as he mentioned maybe she is thinking about their daughter for once. Gemma on the other hand has made it pretty vocal that they can't trust a junkie and that she probably has something up her sleeve. And Jax thinks he agrees with his mother on that thought.

But it seems they have three weeks to see how the divorce proceedings will turn.

Instead, he focuses on that in almost 7 months he's going to have a baby and he looks around the living room of Lip's house. The single story house only has 3 bedrooms.

"What are we going to do about the living situation?"

Cheyenne's eyebrows skyrocket to her hairline at his question and she seems taken back by it. He doesn't know why as these are things they need to discuss now preferably when they aren't elbow deep in shitty diapers. He refuses to crash on a goddamn couch either if he is going to be handling a newborn.

One of the reasons he knows that he hasn't had any kids running around is because of Opie's and Lip's first time father horror stories.

"Jax, you're the one that still lives in a dorm room." She points out. "I'll find a two bedroom apartment or something. I think you need to be more concerned about finding somewhere suitable to live because you are out of your damn mind if I'm going to let you have the baby at the clubhouse."

"I'm not an idiot," Jax retorts. If anything he would spend the night with the kid or crash at her place. He has half the nerve to tell her to make her two bedrooms wish turn to three.

"I think that can be debated," she quips.

"You wound me darlin'." Jax says as he places a hand on his heart and gives her a sad puppy dog look.

Cheyenne rolls her eyes at him.

Jax's phone begins to ring, he throws her an apologetic smile as he sees it's Clay. He knows it's not going to be good and it isn't as apparently another charter of the SONS and Mayans got into a squabble. He snaps his phone shut and sighs. The last thing he needs is a goddamn Mayan beef to escalate. He looks over to Cheyenne, who is back to watching her TV.

He wonders where this will go. A baby will change things between them in their already precarious state and he knows soon she will be debating in what it means for him to be the father of her child.

"I gotta go." He tells her.

"I figured." She replies.

Jax bites down on his bottom lip before he stands up on the couch. He walks over to her motioning for her to sit still as she doesn't need to walk him out. He bends down and thinks it would be so easy to kiss her lips. He wants to kiss her lips. Instead, he settles for her forehead.

…

Cheyenne is standing at the Human Resources desk making copies of all her paperwork that is being updated now that she is pregnant. She almost had a mini panic attack as she knows this will put her back slightly in getting her licensure, but she knows that she will get it. Her timetable moved back a month or two, according to her supervisor. It made her feel a little better especially as she was informed she isn't the first nor will be the last person to have a life while working on their career. Cheyenne thinks her heightened emotions made her panic just a little.

She is tapping her fingers along the desk when she is approached by the Chief Administrator, Margaret Murphy.

Margaret has been nothing but nice and cordial to Cheyenne since she arrived, but she can tell the red head was taken back by the sudden pregnancy.

"Cheyenne, how is everything going?" She greets.

"Good," Cheyenne tells her with a smile. "Just getting my paperwork handled before I forget."

"It's better to be proactive. The statements your professors gave all attested to how quickly you got things done. I wish there were more of you in this hospital." Margaret tells her.

Cheyenne heard that before Margaret came to St. Thomas she had worked at Stockton Memorial for only 5 years, which was apparently a shithole. But Margaret apparently used to work down in San Francesco before she moved up North with her husband. She was known to be a hard ass, but she ran the hospital smoothly. Cheyenne wasn't going to complain, but Margaret's next words make Cheyenne freeze.

"You didn't mention that you worked under Dr. Calvin Richards." Margaret notes. "He actually delivered one of my daughters."

Cheyenne gives her a tight smile. "I was closer to other teachers and doctors and I guess I was too nervous asking for a recommendation from him considering I was leaving."

Margaret nods her head. "He can be a bit much from what I remembered, but still I'm not complaining about you moving. We're lucky to have someone of your skill here."

"Thanks Margaret that really means a lot and I'm really grateful for this opportunity."

…

Jax growls as he bats away another brave croweater. He doesn't know what the hell he has to do before one of them takes the hint that he is not interested in them or anyone at the moment or tonight. Since he walked through the door it's been like he was dipped in honey as the girls swarmed him like he was a honeypot or something.

All he wanted was his beer and too be left alone.

He wasn't in a partying mood and he was about to call it an early night.

He thinks impending fatherhood is making him rethink he's behaviors and life choices. It doesn't help that Lip is a few feet away from him and is clearly aware of Jax's typical behavior for a Friday not. Both he and Opie have been shooting him questionable looks and he knows that he is on the precipice of spilling the news about his future legacy.

He sighs in relief when Opie catches his eye and motions for him to move upstairs – to the roof – where they can talk in private.

He orders the Prospect behind the bar to hand him a full bottle of Jack. Him and Opie swiftly make their way to the roof.

Opie lights a joint that was tucked in his ear and takes a puff before handing it over to him. They watch the party going on below. Tig and Happy are in the ring and he thinks he can see Juice receiving a blow job in the corner from a croweater. He sees his mom press a kiss to Clay as she hops in her car while Clay heads to his bike. No doubt they are going to be having their own after party. They were familiar scenes to him.

However, the one that wasn't, was his best friend sitting next him actually here on a Friday night. Opie hasn't been to the clubhouse this late since his release party. It was no secret that Opie and Donna were having a hard time with him being home.

He knows Donna is the reason his friend is pulling away from the club. Jax thinks his friend might actually patch out if Donna really lays down the ultimatum. As outside of the mandatory meetings on Friday, his friend is working 12 hour shifts at the lumber mill. He's trying to turn straight.

Even if Jax is drowning in the realization of impending fatherhood and his feelings for Cheyenne; he isn't oblivious to his friend's suffering.

"How's things at home?" Jax asks.

Opie sighs. "Shit man…I don't fucking know anymore. I feel as if I breathe wrong Donna will have my balls."

Jax can see the five years in Chino were hard, but Donna – his wife – was even harder on him. Jax can't imagine doing five years because a brother betrayed him and on top of that his wife can't stand the sight of him. Even then his kids look at their father as if he is a stranger. And he can't help but think about his own future kid. Prison sentences were a risk. Luckily in the past seven years the guys had been lucky outside of Opie's arson charge. But it could happen. It was bound to happen and he would be leaving a kid behind this time. Cheyenne would be left alone to raise his child. He wonders how she would handle that. If she would hold the same anger and bitterness as Donna.

Jax honestly doesn't know what to say. "She just needs time, bro."

Opie swipes a hand down his face. "I don't know, man. She seems to get angrier and angrier. "

"Well it's hard to be properly mad at someone when they aren't actually in the house. This is her chance to finally take it out on you."

Opie takes a pull from his bottle and seems to accept his words. "So are you going to tell me what's going on with you?"

Jax's lips pull into a thin line and he knows it's no use in bullshitting his friend.

Opie is eyeing him critically and whatever Opie finds in his expression makes worry boil in his gut. "What happened?"

"Cheyenne's pregnant." He blurts.

Opie's face turns blank. He blinks. Then he blinks again. "Cheyenne Henderson?"

Jax nods his head.

"By who?" Opie asks, but his only answer is silence.

Opie's brows furrow, but it seems from the silence, Jax's guilty look, and just Opie's deductive skills, realization dawns on him as he opens and closes his mouth. The joint in his hand is forgotten. He turns to Jax slowly. "What the fuck did you do?" He can tell Opie is angry. And he expects a punch to come his way.

It doesn't stop the words that spill from Jax's lips.

…

With Lip at the weekly Friday party at the clubhouse, it's only Cheyenne and Isla at the Henderson residence. With a break in Isla's dance practices, the two Henderson girls decide to stay home and have their own little spa day together. With their hair wrapped up in a turban, fluffy robes covering their pajamas, and their feet in the heated spa bath, the two talk about literally everything and anything.

It's on the tip of her tongue to reveal the news of her pregnancy to her niece, but she knows that until she tells Lip. She can't.

"So I think my mom is taking the divorce hard." Isla says.

Cheyenne isn't surprised. Lip was Nina's personal punching bag or even doormat. She thinks Nina never thought the day would come when her brother would pull the rug right out from under her. She doesn't even know why Nina is taking it so hard. The relationship was doomed from the start.

"When did you see your mom?" Cheyenne asks, as she wasn't sure Lip was even allowing Isla to see her mother until they met with the lawyers.

"I didn't," Isla says quickly. "She called Neeta's phone, but I picked up. She seemed very sad. I could tell she was itching for something."

Cheyenne frowns as her niece shouldn't even have to recognize these types of things. She shouldn't be dealing with this. "Isla –"

"No, it's okay. I know mom is sad, but I'm glad dad is finally going to be happy."

"Are you going to be happy?" Cheyenne asks.

"It's not like I'm not happy." Isla says before she shakes her head. "I mean…sometimes I think it would be nice to have the whole mom and dad thing. But I have Dad. And he's enough." Isla tells her with a bright smile. "What about you, Auntie? Plan to get married? Have kids?"

Cheyenne's hands rest on her still flat stomach, the action oblivious to her niece, and replies, "Someday."

…

Cheyenne is laying back on the exam table with her shirt pushed up while Dr. Reed moves the wand around on her belly. She searches for the tiny baby that is only as big as a raspberry. Jax is next to her sitting in a stool as he holds her hand and listens to Dr. Reed explain to him what she is doing. Soon the sound of a heartbeat fills the silent anticipation in the room.

Jax's grip on her hand becomes tighter as they see their baby.

"Are those the arms and legs?" Jax asks awed as he moves closer to the screen. She is surprised his nose isn't pressed against the monitor as he seems to be memorizing all the details.

"Yes," Dr. Reed confirms. "The toes and fingers are slightly webbed at this point."

"Can you tell if anything is wrong with the heart yet?" Jax questions.

"Right now there doesn't seem to be an abnormality. However, it doesn't mean there isn't one. For a next checkup, we're already scheduled for the CVS test to rule out if anything is wrong.

"Are there risks with this test?"

"Jax –" Cheyenne says.

"What?" He asks. "I want to know these things. Be involved."

Cheyenne's lips press into a thin line. Dr. Reed only smiles. "How about we let Cheyenne get cleaned up. I'll print a few of these and then I can answer any questions you may have in my office."

…

Cheyenne can't help, but have a matching smile to Jax's as they walk out of St. Thomas. Despite his concerns about the CVS test, Jax seemed to have relaxed with Dr. Reed assuring him that despite the genetics factor, her pregnancy was going relatively smooth. Of course, there were still the risk of miscarriage, but everything was going good.

So now, she watches with a wide smile as Jax holds out the ultrasound photo, oblivious to his surroundings as she guides him.

And it warms her that he is excited about the baby. At least she knows that he wants to be a father and this isn't some sort of burden.

"Do you want a boy or girl?" She asks him breaking him out of his stupor.

"It has to be a boy, right?" He says. She knows he is teasing her, but it doesn't stop her from punching him in the arm. He quickly intervenes as he grabs her arm and pulls her closer to him. He laughs at the little pout on her lips. "Honestly, as long as the baby is healthy, I don't think I really mind."

Cheyenne raises an eyebrow in disbelief.

"I mean it's not like I ever really thought about kids." He adds on. "I mean doesn't every guy want like a son though. I mean I think most want boys to look like them and follow in their footsteps. But then I think most guys want little girl too because the girls are the ones that really hold their hearts."

"Seems like you've been thinking about it." She points out.

Jax shrugs his shoulders. "Well Opie and Lip both have kids. Although I think a boy would be much easier." He teases.

Cheyenne rolls her eyes at him.

Jax continues, "Although I don't know if I could handle a girl right now especially is she looks like her mother."

"Do you think I want to raise a miniature version of you?" She asks him.

Jax gives her a puppy dog look. "I was the perfect baby."

"Jax have you seem to forgotten I have known you since forever."

Jax gives her a smile. His hand comes up and cups her cheek. His thumb swipes her cheek and she sees it coming as his eyes go from her eyes to lips. But she doesn't stop him as he leans down and he brushes his lips against hers. He doesn't deepen the kiss. The kiss is entirely innocent and sweet. Just the pressing of lips and the kiss only last maybe 10 seconds tops before he pulls back.

She can feel her cheeks becoming flushed and they don't say anything as he leads her back to her car.

…

Jax gives Cheyenne a wave as she turns down her street to head home and Jax continues to go straight. He decides to take a ride around Charming before heading back to the garage.

One, he didn't want anyone souring his mood. And two, he needed a moment to figure out what he was going to do. He needed to figure out if he was ready for the real thing with Cheyenne despite having a kid with her. But no matter what, they were stuck together, guaranteed, for 18 years. So he knows that he needs to get his shit together.

As he passes a house for sell he knows that is the first step.

…

Cheyenne takes a sip of her cranberry juice while Fawn comes out with a tray of cheese, crackers, and pepperoni. Cheyenne immediately begins devouring the cheese.

"Slow down there." Fawn warns with an amused smile.

"I can't help it," Cheyenne replies as she wraps a piece of pepperoni around the cheese.

"So have you and Jax thought about when you are going to announce the pregnancy?" Fawn asks her.

"I wanted to wait until I was 12 weeks and after the CVS test." Cheyenne tells her.

"Gemma is going to flip her lid," Fawn says.

"I know." Cheyenne mutters. She knows she is going to have to get used to Gemma being a grandmother figure and being the mother of her grandson.

"Have you guys talked about it?"

"Talked about what?"

"Him and the club." Fawn says.

Cheyenne shakes her head.

"You can't avoid it." Fawn accuses.

"I'm not." Cheyenne says with a clenched jaw.

Because she isn't.

She knows who Jax is. She knows the risks of his lifestyle. She knows the blood that stains his hands would be the same hands that would hold their child. Despite not talking to him about how their child was going to fit in that world, she wasn't avoiding the conversation. She was telling herself that she wasn't. She thinks she was just waiting to see where she and Jax would go. Wait to see if the child in her belly was healthy and that she wouldn't have any worries before talking about heavy things. Besides her friend didn't really have room to talk considering whatever was going on between her and Lip. But Cheyenne keeps her mouth shut.

"Well you really should before it's too late," Fawn tells her before she begins to talk about colors for the baby room she will need to eventually get ready for.


	10. In The Family Way

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Next chapter we are officially in season one! I hope you guys are still enjoying this story. As always thank you for the feedback and follows! Sorry for any grammar and spelling errors.

* * *

"Don't say I never did anything for you," Lip grumbles to his sister. He is holding her hair up as she is bent over into the porcelain toilet.

The two of them were in the middle of eating breakfast when she burst from her seat and ran to the bathroom. He had to hold back his own need to up chuck as she gagged into the toilet.

Finally after what seemed like hours, her gagging stops. He quickly grabs one of the plastic cups they kept in stock and filled it with water for her to rinse out her mouth. Next he hands her some mouthwash.

"Are you okay?" He asks as she spits the water in the sink and moves to grab the mouthwash.

"I'm fine."

He quirks an eyebrow. "Really?"

He watches as she swishes the mouthwash before she spits it out. She cocks her hips as she places her hands on them. "It could be something from work that's going around."

"And hospitals are supposed to be clean." He mutters.

He looks at his watch and realizes he may be late for his appointment.

"Well I have to get going. I'll pick you up some stuff when I head back."

"Don't worry about it," Cheyenne says brushing him off. "I feel you are probably going to need a drink afterwards. No need to dely."

"You might be right," he huffs.

Cheyenne smiles at him. "Don't let her get to you."

…

Lip doesn't know why Rosen advised him to ditch the kutte and dress up in slacks and a button up. He was getting a divorce from a junkie. It wasn't as if he was losing Isla, as no one in their right mind would hand Nina custody, the only thing he was at risk of losing was a little bit of money. And he told Rosen that he refused to pay for Nina after the divorce. He would pay a flat fee allow herself to stay clean and find somewhere to live, but he wasn't about to support her when she wouldn't be his wife – his responsibility.

However, he knew something was up as Nina's hair was no longer red, but now bleach blonde and cut to her shoulders. She was actually wearing a nice pantsuit and looked like a whole new person. But he wasn't about to be fooled even more with this lawyer she had brought with her.

Yet, once the decisions of assets and property and exactly what she wanted. Lip was losing his patience with the conniving little junkie.

She was purposefully toying with him and he knew it once Isla was brought into the matter and she wanted shared custody.

"Can you guys clear the room?" Lip asks abruptly even though he wasn't really asking. Rosen didn't object and Nina lets her lawyer go.

"What the fuck are you playing at?" Lip asks as soon as the door to the room closes. "You'll be lucky to even get fucking visitation, Nina."

"She's my daughter."

"You're a fucking egg donor," Lip reminds her. "You're nothing but a fucking pathetic junkie. I should've listened to everybody else when they told me you were nothing but trouble."

He ignores the look of pain that passes her face before she draws a blank face. "That's rich coming from an _outlaw_ biker."

Lip's back stiffens and he gives her a humorless laugh. This was how she was going to play it. Despite all her bullshit, not once in their relationship has he ever felt the urge to beat the shit out of her. But now he can envision leaping across the table and strangling the life out of her. And it is those thoughts that he knows it's a good reason to divorce her ass. A woman should ever make him want to stoop to that level.

"You better think real hard about what you're doing here, Nina."

"Why you going to kill me?"

Lip doesn't say anything, but stands up from his chair and leaves the room.

…

Jax watches with wide and concerned eyes as Lip takes his anger and frustrations out on a poor customer's car. Since Lip tore onto the lot, the man has been quiet and has been practically ignoring everyone.

Jax knew that earlier he was meeting the lawyers for the divorce agreements with Nina. He presumes that it was a rough meeting. But he knows his friend needs to talk as Jax is slightly worried that Lip will grab a crowbar and do even more damage to the car.

Jax makes the men clear out the garage while he hesitantly approaches Lip.

"Lip –"

"She's going to try some custody bullshit." Lip tells him.

Jax is taken back by that. He knows he shouldn't be, but he is. Mostly because considering Nina's track record with drugs and the fact Isla hasn't lived with her for years, it was a no brainer that she would only get visitation. Supervised visitation at that.

"No judge in their right mind will give it to her."

Lip shrugs his shoulders in disbelief. "She's her mother, Jax. She's been sober for a while now and I think if she really wanted to be a bitch, she would use the club against me."

"A few months of sobriety isn't going to wipe away 10 years of drug abuse." Jax tells him. Plus, Lip hasn't done time in 7 years and the club hasn't had any flare ups since Opie's arrest, but arson was tame compared to a gun running charge. And he knows that there would be some men in the club that wouldn't appreciate Nina bringing heat down on them.

Lip throws a wrench back in the tool box. "It's not even just Nina. It's Cheyenne."

Jax's brows furrow. "What's wrong with her?"

Lip sighs and scrubs his hands with his face before he leans against a tool bench. "She's been throwing up a lot. Like over nothing. And the last time I've seen a woman throw up like her was when Nina as pregnant with Isla."

Lip thinks he would have missed the blanched look across Jax's face if he wasn't looking at him. And Lip doesn't like the feeling that immediately settles in his gut or the truth that has just smacked him in the goddamn face. Lip stands up straighter as his friend stands in silence. Today is the worst day for this type of shit to be hitting him sideways. Lip can feel the rage building in him.

"You got something you want to tell me, Jax?" He asks calmly.

Jax looks at his friend and knows at this point it's better to fess up. But Jax knows that he is essentially trapped and doomed for a beating trapped in this garage. Jax isn't stupid either. Lip has at least 30 pounds of muscle on him and Jax can admit that he knows Lip can easily beat the shit out of him.

Jax knows he walked himself into this situation.

"Cheyenne's pregnant."

"I figured as much," Lip replies as he cracks his knuckles and rolls his shoulders. "You the father, Jax?"

Jax barely nods before the first punch lands right in his jaw. He feels his teeth bite into his cheek and he tastes blood.

"She's my fucking sister, Jax!" Lip roars and this time Jax moves out of the way as he spits out the blood.

"Lip –" He begins to say, but Lip charges at him.

It then turns into a flurry of fists. Jax doesn't mean to fight back, but it's a defense mechanism as he and Lip come to blows. Jax knows most of Lip's anger is from dealing with Nina. And his friend is going berserk. And Jax exclaims _fuck_ quiet loudly as Lip hit him right in the fucking eyes hard. He can already feel the eye bruising and knows it will be bloodshot.

He doesn't know how long he has been fighting before he finds himself on his back with Lip on top of him aiming punches wherever flesh is unprotected.

For a moment, he wonders where the hell everyone is at, as he practically accepts defeat.

It seems his question is answered as he hears the rushing of feet, his mom's voice directing people to drag Lip off him and into the office. Wade, one of the mechanics helps him off the ground. He finds Gemma brown eyes narrowed at him, hips cocked, but tells him to get his ass into the office. Both of them need to get into the office.

Lip is glaring out the window and Jax plops down on the couch next to the desk. He knows that Lip won't attack him again with his mother in the room.

Gemma slams the door as she glares at her son and a boy she considers a son. Her mind can't grasp any type of thread as to why Lip would attack his VP and more importantly for her son to take it.

"Does anyone want to explain what the hell I just witnessed?" She seethes as she slaps her hands against her thighs.

Jax only looks guiltily at her while Lip glares at him. Gemma thinks she is lucky Lip isn't carrying at the moment.

"Are you going to tell her?" Lip fumes.

She whips her head over to Jax. "What the hell did you do, Jackson?"

"I got Cheyenne pregnant." He tells her.

Gemma almost stumbles in her heels at the news.

She doesn't know whether she wants to strangle her son for not telling her this sooner and for the fact this happened right under her nose. Then there is the fact of her one desire of becoming a grandmother is about to be achieved, but she can't exactly bounce off the walls like she wants too.

She keeps a blank face as right now she knows she needs to at least pacify Lip into not murdering her son.

"How long has this been going on?" She asks her son.

Lip snickers in disgust. "I don't want to know how long Jax and my sister have been lying to me."

"It wasn't like that." Jax fires back.

"Then what was it like, Jax?" Lip asks with flared nostrils.

"It was only the one time –"

"Oh that's even better," Lip roars. "My sister isn't a fucking croweater."

"I know that!" Jax snaps.

"So what? You're just saying she let you fuck her one time?" Lip asks.

"Cheyenne is a grown fucking woman, Lip." Jax tells him.

Lip laughs without any trace of humor. "No, I know how you are Jax. How long were you working her before she caved?"

"You know bro, you have no room to talk and act all high and mighty when you've been fucking Fawn while still married to Nina." Jax taunts.

Gemma watches as Lip is about to lunge at her son again, but she quickly intervenes. "Alright! Alright! Enough!"

Lip ceases any move for an attack.

Gemma rubs her forehead. "We all need to calm down, right now. Anger isn't going to change what happened."

Lip huffs angrily and both her and Jax watch as he storms angrily out of the office.

They hear the growl of his bike and Jax tries to get up, but she pushes her son back down. They both know that Lip is most likely tracking down Cheyenne.

"Not your business, Jax."

"The hell it isn't."

"So Cheyenne's your old lady now?" Gemma counters and she watches as Jax's lip purse in a thin line, but he instantly winces as it tugs at his tender skin.

Gemma gets up and grabs the first aid kit off the wall. Lip did do a number on her son. It's silent as she gathers the things she needs to clean the busted skin.

"You're not going to tear me a new asshole?" Jax says breaking the silence.

"What you did Jax…you disrespected a brother. It also doesn't help Cheyenne." She tells him gently. There were certain ways to things. With Cheyenne being a family member of a brother, it didn't look good for Jax going behind Lip's back and not only sleeping with her, but getting her pregnant. Stuff like that would hurt Cheyenne's reputation with how their social structure worked. "Now, I find it hard to believe you and Cheyenne only fooled around once."

Despite the situation a cocky smile graces her son's lip that splits it back open, "I don't kiss and tell, Mom."

Gemma shoots him an unimpressed stare as she presses a cotton swab with alcohol on a cut that makes him flinch.

Jax sighs. "I don't think that really matters now. Don't ya think?"

"I guess I should be grateful you didn't knock up a croweater." She mutters. "How far is she?"

"8 weeks," Jax tells her and he digs into his pocket and brings out his wallet. He opens it and pulls out a piece of photo paper.

Gemma takes it, but nearly drops it at the sight of her grandchild. She can't hide the blinding smile that overcomes her features. She knows in her gut that it will be a boy.

"It's going to be a boy." She tells him.

"You think?"

"Yeah. You'll give me a strong grandson. The family flaw?"

"Won't know until her next appointment when she does this test," He informs her.

Gemma nods her head and she doesn't even realize it when her hand ghosts over her own scar from her heart surgery.

"You happy about this?"

"I'm going to be a dad," he tells her with a goofy smile that she can't help but return.

…

Cheyenne has a smile on her face from her latest appointment as she was able to tell a young couple that they were indeed about to become parents. It seemed she was now allowing herself to feel something than worry and anxiety when it comes to her own pregnancy.

She's at the front desk making idle chat with the secretary when she finds herself being roughly pulled by someone. The secretary gasps in shock along with Cheyenne and she is a few seconds away from slapping the person when she realizes who it is when they speak.

"We need to talk." Lip demands.

Cheyenne pulls her arm from his hold and glares at him. "Who in the hell do you think you are grabbing me like that." She hisses at him.

He levels her with a glare. "We need to talk now."

"About what?"

"Dr. Henderson, do you need me to call security?" The secretary asks with wide eyes, the phone already in her hand.

"No, it's okay. This idiot is only my brother." She tells him. Since she isn't a licensed doctor yet, she doesn't have her own personal office space. So she takes Lip to one of the vacant waiting rooms.

"What the hell is your problem?" She demands before she can even close the door.

"When were you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Cheyenne replies getting annoyed by her brother's bad attitude.

"You let fucking Jax Teller knock you up!"

Cheyenne freezes and her hands go to her belly confirming her brother's words. In that shock, she finally takes a good look at her brother when red angry knuckles and a bruise on his cheek.

"What did you do?" She asks worried for Jax.

"What I needed to do," he replies. "How stupid could you fucking be by fucking him, Cheyenne?"

"That isn't any of your business."

"The hell it isn't. You do know that you don't mean shit to him. I can't even count how many fingers the women that have been in Jax's bed in the past weeks." He tells her.

Cheyenne bits back the hurt she feels from that as she doesn't have a right to feel anything about Jax's personal life anyways. She folds her arms across her chest. "I'm not talking about this. Here. Besides, I don't like the way you're talking to me. Now you better remove yourself or I will call security."

…

Jax, for once, listened to his mother when she told him to stay back at the clubhouse for a while before seeking Cheyenne out. He drove pass her house after work and didn't see car. And knowing the only other place she would go, he finds her car parked behind Fawn's.

Fawn lets him in with no hassle and doesn't say anything before she trails back to her bedroom giving him and Cheyenne privacy.

He finds Cheyenne sitting on the couch clutching one of Fawn's decorative pillows. "I didn't mean to tell him."

Cheyenne nods her head. "Who else knows?"

"Just my mom."

Cheyenne sighs and frowns when she takes in his appearance and the nice work her brother did to his face. "Come on," she tells him and he follows her back to the bathroom where she digs out a first aid kit.

She doesn't ask him to, but he tells her what led to the fight between him and Lip. She doesn't add anything other than a sigh as she tends to his wounds with gentle hands.

"Are you mad my mom knows?" He asks her as she presses a butterfly bandage to his cut.

She shakes her head. "No, she was going to find out eventually."

He nods her head and she goes back to her work in silence. And they haven't been this close since the night at the cabin and god he thinks – knows – she is the most beautiful woman he has laid eyes on and she is carrying his child. He smiles at her unruly curls that he is surprised she let be shown today and even at the intense look of concertation taking over her features as she takes care of him.

He doesn't even realize it when he reaches out and his hand grips her hip. She looks at him questionably, but he responds with his actions as he moves her closer to settle between his legs.

She looks at him with a raised eyebrow and he only smiles as he presses his lips against hers. It's slow and sweet and she presses herself closer to him when he sucks her bottom lip into his mouth.

He pulls back enjoying how she is already flushed from him and his hands find their way under her shirt to her back where he rubs soothing circles.

"Blame the hormones," she tells him as she wraps her arms around his neck.

He laughs, but they are swallowed by her bringing her lips back down to his.

She's more eager this time as their tongues dance together. He's aware that they both should stop this as they are in Fawn's bathroom and there is little space in the bathroom to really do what he believes things will lead too.

When his hands come to her ribs scrunching up her shirt, she giggles separating their lips.

"That tickles," she tells him.

He looks at her with a knowing smile and before she can protest, his fingers go back to her ribs and tickle her.

"Jax!" She screeches as she tries to fight her way out of his hold to no avail.

When he stops, she punches him hard in the arm. "Sorry."

"No you're not," she refutes with a scowl.

He wraps her back up in his arms and sometimes he forgets how small she is. How easily she is swallowed by him. He presses a kiss to her forehead, cheeks, nose, and eventually her lips.

They are separated when a knock comes from the door.

It's Fawn. "Lip's here."

…

They are sitting in the living room. Lip is sitting alone in Fawn's recliner. Jax and Cheyenne are on the couch while Fawn stands in the kitchen drinking coffee watching like an audience member.

Lip groans as he looks at one of his best friends and his sister. He wonders if this is what betrayal feels like. Because for some reason this feels like betrayal to him.

"I'm not happy," he states bluntly. Jax snorts and Cheyenne only scowls at him. "I'm not." He repeats. He's not for several of reasons, but most of all he knows Cheyenne having a kid will hinder her in ways she doesn't realize yet when it comes to her career. But he also knows this isn't about her and he is about to become an uncle. "But I am excited about becoming an uncle." He manages with a small smile. He slaps his knees as he stands up. "I need to talk to you though." He says pointing at Jax.

Cheyenne goes to say something, but Jax pats her leg and she closes her mouth.

Lip's stomach tightens.

When they are outside, Lip lights a cigarette to distract his hands from punching Jax again. Jax is silent besides him.

"I refuse to have my sister seen as a club passaround." He tells him.

"She won't be." Jax insists.

"Why because she is going to be your old lady?" He questions to which Jax doesn't answer too. "You better figure out real quick what you want, Jax." Lip warns. "Because none of the regular club laws will apply to my sister. I refuse to let her go through any of the bullshit other old ladies go through. I don't want to be responsible for killing the VP for not keeping it in his pants."

He doesn't bother waiting for Jax to plead his case or intentions. He heads to his bike wondering what the fuck is going on in his life.

…

 _A Week Later_

Cheyenne finds herself sitting next to Jax in his truck watching the passing scenery in Charming. She's curious as to where he is taking her as they are driving in the same car, which he insisted. He had invited her to lunch and told he had a surprise, but first he wanted to take a ride around of Charming.

She didn't question it as she was hungry.

But now, they had been riding around for 15 minutes and she was curious especially since it had Jax driving his truck instead of his bike.

"So where are we going?"

"Be patience." He replies cheekily.

She rolls her eyes and gives him a pout.

"We're almost there."

She decides not to bother him with any more questions as he pulls onto Crestwood. She furrows her brows as this neighborhood was known for its many family homes. He eventually pulls into a driveway of what looks to be an unoccupied house.

It doesn't take long for her to connect the dots.

She follows Jax inside the one ranch story house. It has four bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. A front and backyard and attached two car garage.

She's silent as he shows her the house that is freshly painted and waiting for someone to make it a home.

It is a nice starter home. It was simple and a good first place to start to build something.

She is looking outside through the sliding doors that lead to the back porch and the luscious backyard when Jax speaks up.

"Would it be wrong for us to try?" He asks her.

Cheyenne turns to look at him in such a clean white home and him standing there unsure in his kutte and dark clothes.

"Moving in together is a big commitment," she replies.

"So is having a baby." He slides his hands into his pockets. "It's not like we're complete strangers."

Cheyenne moves away from the door and stands in the middle of the living room. A frown on her face. "As a friend I'm not expected to handle certain things a certain way. There are a lot of responsibilities being with you."

Jax nods his head. "I know that and it might not be fair to you, but I'm willing to try."

She isn't able to give him an answer.

"Do you at least like the house?"

She gives him a smile. "I do."

…

After dropping Cheyenne back off at Lip's, Jax heads to his mom house. He finds her in her greenhouse tending to her plants. He sometimes wonders how his mom does it all handling him, Clay, and this life. She had lost a husband and a son, but she still stands and remains such a strong woman. And despite his mom's flaws like being meddlesome and a bit overprotective. He admires and loves his mother.

"I heard at Hoffman's that you and Cheyenne were on a date." She says.

He smirks as he goes and finds a seat in one of her lounge chairs. "If that's what people are saying it must be true then."

Gemma huffs, but she never takes her attention off her plant that she is repotting.

"I'm buying a house for Cheyenne and the baby in Crestwood." He tells her.

"Just for Cheyenne and the baby _or_ for you, Cheyenne, and the baby?" She questions.

"The second one."

His mom sets her spade down and turns to him. Despite his mom being 52, she doesn't look a day over 30 in her cami and flannel and form fitting jeans. "You serious about Cheyenne?"

Jax nods his head. Things with Cheyenne have always been serious with her and easy.

"Jax, you haven't had an old lady since Tara."

"I know, mom." Jax snaps at the mention of his first love. "It was for a reason don't you think?"

Gemma reluctantly nods her head because a part of her is glad Jax didn't just fuck his way through every willing hole until he found a mediocre old lady. But he found someone that could be an old lady. And she wasn't left to deal with a dimwitted daughter in law or another Tara Knowles. But she still finds her son made a complicate choice with Cheyenne.

"I find it hard to believe you and Cheyenne only fooled around once."

"Ma –"

"Just tell me the truth, Jackson." She presses.

Jax sighs. "It's hard to explain, Ma. It wasn't like we were having a sordid love affair. Sometimes things just happened."

"How old was she Jax before you claimed her Jax?"

Jax gives his mom a slight glare at her choice of wording, but he answers her anyways. "She was 17. It was only a kiss."

His mom nods his head and turns around to go back to her potting. Jax stands up and wraps his mom in a hug and presses a kiss to her head. "I love you, mom."

"I love you too, son."

…

After being married for almost twenty years, there isn't a lot that Gemma and Clay Morrow don't share with each other. In fact, if Gemma was being honest with herself, she probably held more secrets from Clay than he did her. There were deadly secrets and lies that were tangled in her relationship with Clay. She acknowledged that, but she loved him to her fullest.

Getting ready for bed, Clay is perched on the bed, as she regales her husband with the latest development in Jax's love life.

Like Gemma had practically raised Cheyenne. Clay had raised Lip making him into a fine mechanic and even sponsored him in getting his patch. But they both knew despite raising them, there were certain things that were bound to happen. Things that couldn't be avoided and they could see the similarities the two Henderson kids had with their parents. Luckily, their mother didn't see the need to keeping in contact with her two children. Lip was his father's son and sometimes she thinks that scares Clay with how much they are alike. She sees it every time Lip chooses his family over club functions and how Nina has messed Lip up in some ways.

And now Cheyenne is pregnant with Jax's child and she can see the worry in Clay's face.

"You think that's good for Cheyenne and Jax to be together?" Clay asks her.

"Apparently they've been dancing around each other since she was 17." She informs her husband.

"Shit and no one noticed?"

"Apparently not," Gemma retorts. "You've never had to worry about Lip." She reminds her husband.

"Yeah, but Cheryl was resigned to the fact Lip was SAMCRO. Cheyenne may be a different story. Cheryl will no doubt try to make contact when the news hits her."

…

Cheyenne and Isla are painting each other's nails when Isla decides to question why her Aunt Cheyenne was out and about with Uncle Jax.

She has noticed that her dad and Cheyenne had been acting weird around each other. She has also noticed that Uncle Jax hasn't been around or if he is around or mentioned Aunt Cheyenne is there. Besides Isla isn't stupid she knows something is going on that her dad isn't happy about.

"Aunt Cheyenne, is something going on between you and Uncle Jax?"

She can tell the question takes her aunt by surprise. She thinks her aunt is going to lie to her like her dad usually does and she pretends not to feel hurt. Yet, she is shocked when her aunt answers her with the truth.

"Well actually…we're having a baby."

Isla's mouth drops open shocked. She doesn't know how to respond to that. It was certainly not what she was expecting. Her aunt is having a baby.

"Are you two dating?"

Her aunt doesn't exactly answer the question. "It was a happy accident."

"Oh," Isla says still shocked. But if she and Jax are having a baby and every room in the house is filled, she knows what that means. She frowns. "So that means you're going to be moving out?"

She just got her aunt back and now she's leaving. She's starting a whole family!

Cheyenne moves next to her and wraps her arms around her. "Hey, I'm still going to be here for you. We still can do our spa days and stuff. A baby won't change that." Her aunt promises.

But Isla knows how babies are. Knows how demanding newborns can be just like her aunt's current job. Plus her aunt has something going on with Jax now. There will be no room for her despite her aunt's promises. And Isla can't help the tears that leave her eyes she desperately wants to hide.

"But we just started to be a family. I just got you back." She reveals to her aunt.

"We'll still be a family. We are family. It's just expanding."


	11. Emergency

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** We're officially in season 1. Felt like it took forever to get there lol. So in saying that with this rewrite, I'm trying my best to not to rewrite episodes. At most, I'm looking to write messing scenes or taking more liberties in moving around how things are found out and playing around more in making not seem to predictable. After all, we've seen the show and how things transpired. I don't want this to be just an OC insert. And the timeline below is really small because I don't go by specific dates, only months.

As always forgive me for any spelling and grammar mistakes.

until then.

* * *

 **Timeline + Ages:**

Jax: 30  
Lip: 30  
Cheyenne: 27  
Isla: 9

Chapter 1: May 2008  
Current Chapter: September 2008

* * *

 _14 Weeks Along_

Cheyenne was surprised with how quick Jax was able to get them into their new home. She thought it would have taken at least a month or two to get the house ready, but it was officially theirs in 3 weeks. Despite her belly only looking like she had a big lunch, she was forbidden to do any lifting. Jax had ordered her to only direct where boxes needed to go and, if she wanted, she could begin unpacking some stuff. But she also knows Jax is taking the news of her having a high risk pregnancy not well as their baby was confirmed in having CHD.

And she knows if Jax had her way, she would be wrapped in bubble wrap for the whole duration of the pregnancy.

But she doesn't mind watching her brother, Opie, and Jax all arguing on how to carry in the couch she had picked out for the house.

Instead of adding her two cents, she bites her lip as she begins putting away dishes in the cabinet.

The guys have finally gotten the couch into the living room when Gemma pulls up into the driveway.

Since she and Jax have announced the pregnancy, which had shocked everyone, Cheyenne has taken some measure not to be totally alone with Jax's mother.

It wasn't because she was scared or anything. It was more so she wasn't ready to handle this new role she was about to be in Gemma's world. Gemma has always been a mother figure to her. The two of them never had issues, but Cheyenne was never openly involved with Jax.

Cheyenne remembers clearly how Gemma would handle any women that would enter Jax's life. When Jax was with Tara, she recalls how downright nasty the two were with each other.

Even though sometimes she felt Tara riled Gemma up on purpose and Gemma should've been more mature about it since she was the adult, she knows Gemma's distaste for Tara came from her overprotectiveness that came from being a mother.

The biker matriarch was fiercely protective over Jax. And that also meant she was overbearing in some ways.

Right now, Cheyenne didn't want to deal with Gemma inserting herself in the pregnancy. She was already overwhelmed being pregnant and moving in with Jax. She just wanted to let herself breathe a little before dealing with Mother Gemma. She knows that a confrontation is bound to happen sooner or later.

Cheyenne is breaking down a box when Gemma walks into the kitchen after doing a walkthrough with Jax.

"Jax has good taste." She greets with.

"I guess he gets that from you." Cheyenne jokes as she looks at Jax, who is smiling sheepishly at her.

Gemma smiles at her as she looks inside of the open boxes on the kitchen table. "You know you and Jax should check out the storage unit and see if there is anything you might want."

"Sounds good," Jax agrees.

Cheyenne fights from rolling her eyes as she thinks the only thing in there is probably more SAMCRO memorabilia.

"Have you guys ate yet?" Gemma questions. "Cheyenne and I can pick up some food."

Of course Lip and Opie cheer at the mention of food. Jax looks at his mom hesitantly. "Ma, you don't have too –"

"I insist. Cheyenne doesn't need to be cooking and you sure as hell don't need to be near a stove."

Lip and Opie chuckle in the background and Cheyenne can't even hide her own smile that tugs at her lips. Jax accepts defeat as he shrugs his shoulders, but he steps to her and places a kiss on her lips.

Lip gags in the background and Cheyenne shoots him a deadly glare.

…

They haven't even made it to the corner of the street when Gemma cuts to the chase. "So you and Jax are together?"

"Yeah," Cheyenne says with a nod of her head.

"And do you know what it means to be with my son?"

Cheyenne stops herself from rolling her eyes. "I would hope so."

"So down the road you will have no problem in claiming to be his old lady?"

"I think having his kid is a bigger commitment." Cheyenne points out. To Cheyenne being an old lady was irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Being a mother was more important.

"Not in this world." Gemma replies. "There are big responsibilities when it comes to my son. I just want to know if you're going to be able to handle the club being fully integrated into your life."

"I know that, but don't you think this is something that's between Jax and me?" Cheyenne says.

Gemma looks at her behind her sunglasses a smirk tugs at her lips. "I guess you're right. I just want you to be aware that the guys may start treating you differently now that you're with a patch and not just a family member anymore."

Cheyenne really thinks that Gemma is going to start treating her differently.

…

With the ladies gone and the couch finally in the living room, Jax, Lip, and Opie are lounging on the sofas with cold beer as they wait for their food.

Jax knows Lip is still uneasy about the current situation. Since Cheyenne confirmed her pregnancy, the man has been nothing but passive aggressive towards him. But it was coming to a point that Lip needed to get fucking over it. He watches as Lip eyes the house critically, his lips pursed in thought.

"Got saying to say," Jax says over Opie, who was trying to fill the awkward silence that had consume them.

"It's a nice house." Lip tells him. "A lot of room though. Planning on filling them in?"

"Maybe," Jax replies. "You have a problem with that?"

Lip folds his arms across his chest. "Kids are a lot of responsibility, Jax."

"I know."

"Do you? Do you really think you're going to be able to balance club duties and your duties as a father?"

Jax clenches his jaw. "If you have something to say, just say it."

"I don't think you're ready to be a father." Lip states bluntly.

"Lip –" Opie says getting ready to tamper an argument that will surely brew.

"No, let him finish. After all now he wants to act like a brother." Jax challenges.

In all the years of their friendship, Lip and Jax really never had a problem. There wasn't a reason for them too. And he knows that it is going to take Lip awhile to come to terms about him and Cheyenne. He just didn't think Lip was going to be intent on acting like an asshole about it.

Lip opens his mouth to say something, but then the front door to the house opens up revealing his mom and Cheyenne.

…

It's nearing 10 o'clock when Jax and Opie finally finish setting up the last piece of furniture in the master bedroom. After all, Jax and Cheyenne needed something to sleep on, but at this point, Jax thinks he should've just paid the extra money to have most of the things pre-assembled.

"Man, you should've just had the Prospect do this shit," Opie grumbles as they slide the mattress to his King sized bed onto the box frame.

After dinner, his mom had quickly left. Lip had followed an hour or two later to head home to see Isla. It wasn't like his presence was exactly wanted. Opie decided to stay behind and help Jax set up most of the furniture as Cheyenne did another beer run for him. But Opie did have a point, but there are a lot of things that still needed to be done that he would task the Prospect with.

"Well I decided to give him some type of break. After all, Chey wants to repaint some of these rooms. He'll be plenty of busy soon."

Opie laughs as he cracks open another beer. They could hear Cheyenne in the front of the house singing softly to the music she had playing. A smile tugs at his lips from the simple domesticity of it all.

"You know I'm happy for you." Opie tells him. "Cheyenne and the baby will be good for you."

"I think some will disagree with that statement." Jax replies.

Opie bristles. "Lip is just being a brother."

"Yeah about 10 years too late." Jax remarks bitterly. It's not as if Lip wasn't a good brother to Cheyenne. He had always been supportive and protective of her. Yet, there were a lot of times that Cheyenne had to go to Opie and even him for things as Lip wasn't exactly the most responsible or reliable one especially when Nina and him were together.

"It's better than never." Opie defends.

"I thought you were my best friend?" Jax teases.

"Hey, I'm not getting in between you two. Besides Lip has like 20 pounds of muscle on the both of us." Opie teases.

Jax snorts and he looks at the clock. "You sure Donna won't mind you being here so late?"

Opie releases a humorless chuckle. "I don't think my presence is exactly welcomed these days."

Jax furrows his brows.

"It's like….nothing I seem to do is right. They want me there, but at the same time they don't. Kids don't know me. Donna is still pissed at me."

Jax purses his lips as he isn't sure what exactly to tell his friend. He has never been in that boat. But he does know how much Opie and Donna love each other and he knows they'll figure it out. "That shit will work itself out, bro."

About ten minutes later, Jax escorts Opie out of the house and he finds that Cheyenne has moved from the kitchen to the living room. She has set up their TV along with its entertainment stand and is currently watching the news as she moves the coffee table how she likes it.

"You know the Prospect can do all this stuff." He tells her as he stands next to her and moves the table how she wants it. She doesn't even hide her eye roll at him.

"I'm not invalid." She replies with an edge to her voice.

"You heard the doctor." He replies with narrowed eyes.

"Jax –"

"Cheyenne –" He interrupts.

She scowls at him. "I'm a doctor to, ya know."

Jax grips her wrist and pulls her into him. He places a kiss on her lips and he feels a reluctant smile tug at her lips as she responds.

He thinks that it's too easy between them. Things shouldn't be this way. With Tara, he always had to fight something when it came to her. Something was always trying to wedge itself into that relationship. And he always felt like he was trying with her. He constantly needed to apply effort and maintenance. It was exhausting as he looked back on it. But now even with this honeymoon stage and even back in the days when they were younger, things were always easy with Cheyenne.

Too easy.

He nibbles on her bottom lip that has her arching into him. He pulls back and is about to insist they break in their new bed when his attention is taken by the Breaking News title card flashing across the screen and soon hears a detailed description about an explosion out by the streams that houses the Bluebird gun warehouse.

His phone begins to buzz wildly.

…

Cheyenne is standing at the reception desk at St. Thomas totally feeling the effects of pregnancy. She is rubbing her back as she feels uncomfortable and even her boobs were leaking. She wonders if this is the ugly stage of pregnancy.

It doesn't help that she has a house that she needs to get unpacked and decorated and she's starting to think that utilizing the Prospect isn't such a bad idea.

"My god, Chey, I think I can see a little bump forming."

Cheyenne looks up and finds one of her coworkers, Lola, approaching her. Cheyenne looks down to her stomach that she thought still was relatively flat. After all the baby is the size of a lemon and it's her first pregnancy. She frowns, but then again Lola is a slight airhead, but a great nurse. She is unsure how the two correlate, but she enjoys her company for the most part.

Before she can respond her attention is distracted by the newspaper in her hand.

"Hey can I see that?" She asks her coworker.

Lola hands it over without question. "Crazy isn't it. I heard it was a gun warehouse for you know who." Lola whispers in scandal.

Cheyenne raises her eyebrows. "Really?" She replies as she begins reading the article.

After the news and Jax answering his phone, he didn't say much on what was going on just admitted that it was theirs. But it didn't take too long to connect the dots that it indeed was a gun warehouse. In the morning, she was going question him, but the bed was empty and his bike was gone.

Cheyenne herself was unsure of how she felt about it because she knows if another crew did this it meant retaliation. And the fact someone would go to great lengths to be so visible in an attack against the SONS meant the attention of law enforcement.

She has just finished the article, which all but says it's was the base of an apparently weapons depot, when the emergency door opens with a flurry of paramedics and shouting that it's an overdose. Cheyenne rushes over and she almost trips over her feet as she sees Neeta coming up on the rear. She goes to ask about the patient when she loses her voice as she looks at the seizing Nina.

"I found her on her kitchen floor. I tried to get ahold of Lip, but he isn't answering." Neeta informs her frantically.

Cheyenne rubs her temples. She could not believe Nina would go and do this. "I'll call Jax. He's probably with him." She tells Neeta. Cheyenne heads to a quiet corner and pulls out her phone. Jax answers instantly.

…

Soon Jax arrives with Lip, Clay, Gemma, Bobby, and Chibs.

Cheyenne holds out the matches printed with the Hairy Dog logo. "She overdosed. Most likely crank. Hands and feet are full of track marks. When's the last time you talked to her?" Cheyenne directs towards her brother.

"Not since we met with the lawyers." He replies.

Cheyenne nods her head and presses her lips into a thin line. "She's going to be out for a while. Neeta's still here wondering what we should tell Isla."

At the mention of Isla, he visibly flinches and runs his hands down his face. It looks like he is going to say something, but instead he turns around with an angry stride. "Lip!"

He ignores her as he busts out the hospital Jax hot on his trail.

…

Jax doesn't say anything as Lip takes his frustrations out on Whistler. Hell, if Lip wanted to murder the guy right there and then he would let him. After all Darby knows that there is no dealing in Charming and even though Nina was her own person, this dipshit knew better than selling to anyone connected to SAMCRO.

But as he looks at his friend, he can see that Lip is ready to snap at any moment. With the divorce, Fawn, and now Cheyenne being pregnant, he can tell that it's all getting to his friend.

Jax doesn't even blink when Lip stabs the man in the balls with a pull stick.

…

Isla knew something was up as her dad signed her out of school early – way early. She had thought they were going back home or to the clubhouse, as she thought they were going into a lockdown. However, they didn't turn into Buckhead towards SAMCROs corner.

She could tell something was wrong as her dad was very quiet.

But she doesn't say anything as he asks her about her day at school. What trip he needed to start saving for in the summer. A simple distraction for whatever was plaguing him and she knows in her gut it was about her mom. Only one person could get him like this.

He takes her to the park by the streams that is a decent amount away from the activity from the explosion that happened last night. He hasn't even turned off the ignition when she cuts to the chase.

"Did she die?" She asks him. A part of Isla hopes that she did because these constant overdoses and making her dad feel miserable were wearing on her. If Isla has learned anything she didn't need her mother. She had her father. She had him and she had a family that extended upon the nuclear image America wanted.

He blows out a breath and taps his fingers against his steering wheel. "No, but this time is going to be different."

"What do you mean?"

"She can't keep doing this to you. The divorce might get messy and I don't want her around you."

Isla nods her head. She has learned everything with her mom is messy, but this time it had to have been bad for her dad to actually in act a cease and desist.

"Dad, you're allowed to feel something too."

A sad smile tugs at his lips. "I loved your mother once. I don't want you to think I never did. But I don't think I was ever in love with her."

"If you weren't dad, I wouldn't be upset. Besides I know I wasn't exactly planned." Isla says bluntly.

"Isla –"

"Dad, it's true!" She counters with a laugh.

He reaches across and pulls her into him. "You're growing up too fast."

"I'm not growing up fast enough." She replies.

"You'll always be my baby girl though."

Isla curls into her dad some more and she thinks despite everything she can't hate her mother even though she was never there.

…

8 hours later, Cheyenne is clocked out and instead of going home; her feet take her to Nina's room. She isn't sure why she is going there. She doesn't really have anything nice or productive to say to the junkie. She finds her up with matted bleach blonde hair watching TV.

Cheyenne thinks she's angry. She thought now with the divorce Nina would maybe actually start to give a shit about her daughter.

She really believes that Nina thought having Isla would've tied her down to Lip.

"How are you feeling?" She asks as she stuffs her hands in her lab coat.

"Fine." Nina replies stiffly.

"Can I ask what happened?"

"I don't have to explain shit to you."

"Yes, you do actually. Isla deserves some type of explanation for this shit." Cheyenne retorts. "Are there more drugs in the house?"

"Look, I don't need this shit from you or anyone right now," Nina snaps. "You'll understand soon considering you're having Jax Teller's baby."

"What does that mean?" Cheyenne asks.

"You'll see soon enough." Nina says and turns up the volume on the TV.

…

After church, the shop is being closed up, Jax finds his mom turning off the computer and getting things ready for tomorrow. He feels things are changing. Now he is really going to be challenged as a VP. With the gun warehouse burning down because of the Mayans, and now Darby selling crank in Charming, he was going to have to prove his worth on how to handle both of these things at once.

Then there was what he found in storage.

"You okay?" His mom asks him.

Jax nods his head as he steps further into the office. "Worried about Lip."

"Nina was a mistake. We should've never let him get that far with her. Isla or not." She says with complete bitterness.

Jax can't disagree with that statement. "I went to storage today."

His mom perks up at that. "Find anything useful?"

"Maybe. When you and dad hooked up, he ever talk to you about his vision? About what he wanted from the club?"

His mom looks taken back by the question.

"His vision was... you know, what it is. A brotherhood. Family." She replies as she grabs a cigarette.

"And running guns? He want that?" He presses. Despite following in his father's footsteps, Jax never really knew what his father wanted out of the club. He just knew that his dad started the club out of rebellion from the government. After Uncle Sam made them go through a war nobody wanted a part of and rejected the men that fought for it.

Now after reading just a few pages of his father's deepest thoughts, he isn't sure outlaw was part of it. And just bringing up the idea of the club finding other ways of income, he thought Clay was going to have a stroke.

"He never talked about that. Why?"

Jax leans forward on his knees. "I found a box of his old shit in the storage unit. There's, like, pictures and journals and... Things I never knew about him." He tells her honestly.

"What kind of things?"

"It seemed like his original idea for the MC was something simpler. You know, social rebellion. He called it a Harley commune. It wasn't outlaw. It was real hippie shit."

"We had a lot of bright ideas back then. We were kids. Your father became a man. Man take care of business." She tells him.

"Yeah, we do." Jax agrees.

"You and Cheyenne plan on having full disclosure?"

Jax raises an eyebrow at that. He's glad he is able to share most things with his mom, but if he learned anything from being with Tara, there needs to be a limit. He doesn't need his mom to insert herself into his relationship.

"It's an honest question." She comments.

"Don't you think that's between me and her? And don't you go pester her on how to be an old lady. She has enough shit on her plate."

"Alright, I won't. I just want you to be happy, baby. You're about to become a father and with the explosion…"

"Mom, I have her to go home too now to deal with this shit." He says as he stands up. "I love you, Ma." He tells her as he presses a kiss to her cheek.

"Love you too, baby."

…

Twirling his keys around his finger, Jax finds Cheyenne in the kitchen putting the last of the décor up.

"Hey," he greets as he heads into the kitchen and places a kiss on her lips. His right hand comes down and rest on the small swell of her stomach. "How's the kid?"

"The baby's fine, Jax." She tells him.

He presses another kiss to side of her head and then wraps his arms around her. "How's Nina?"

"Up. Honestly, I'm more worried about Isla." She tells him. "Do I want to know what Lip did?"

"Probably not." He replies her.

She sags against him and he rubs his hands across her back.

"How was your day?" She asks him as she pulls away from him slightly.

Jax bites his lip wondering how much he should tell her. There was the explosion, Darby, and now this manuscript and she didn't need any more stress.

"I know that you're not just a Harley enthusiast." She begins. After all, she knows there is blood on his hands. She was there to see how he dealt with it the first time. "You can tell me what you want, but I don't want you to feel like you have to hide or edit things for me."

Jax purses his lips. He decides to tell her what he can and what's the most obvious thing he knows that he needs to explain since it's all over the news.

"The gun warehouse was torched by the Mayans. It requires retaliation."

She nods her head as she takes in his words. She knows that he will be an active part in the retaliation. She knows it means him heading into enemy territory to enact payback. "Just be careful because it's not just you anymore. It's us." She says as she places his hand back on her stomach.

…

With Cheyenne heading to bed, Jax finds himself left to his own devices. He knows he should probably head to bed along with her, but his mind isn't quiet. Instead, he heads into the dining room where the bar still needs to be put together.

With Cheyenne's opening about being able to handle full disclosure, he thinks maybe he should tell her about finding the manuscript. He knows that he can trust Cheyenne with it. He has trusted her since they were kids. But this isn't just about him killing a man or about what he does for the club. This is about exposing an insecurity he has about the club. An insecurity he didn't know he even had until he read his father's doubts about it.

He thinks that it may be too soon for him to lay on her about finding his dad's lost thoughts and him maybe wanting to change the club for them – for the baby in her belly.

He also thinks she doesn't need to know these doubts when she needs an easy pregnancy. He isn't stupid. He knows the burdens from being with him. He isn't blind to see how it was starting to change Tara. He saw how it changed the nature of Lip's and Nina's relationship. It's pretty clear what the club has done to Opie and Donna.

And he doesn't want those burdens to taint them so soon. He wants to prolong the honeymoon phase just for a bit. He just wants his house – her – to be all for himself. He just needs an escape once in a while.

…

Lip thinks he could just strangle her in her sleep. He knows it's cold even for him, but just looking at her makes him want to rage. He can't shake the urge of wanting to beat the shit out of her. He wonders if having these thoughts makes him a bad man. He knows he will never act on it and these thoughts are partially why he is divorcing her. But goddamn, she just knows how to worm her way back into his life when things were finally getting better.

Thank god for Neeta though. He knows that she is going to need a raise of this.

He looks over Nina and knows she has seen better days. The bleach blonde hair looks dry and brittle with her brown roots showing like a headband. She has lost more weight making her already thin frame look sickly. And he sneers in disgust at the prominent track marks especially around the crow on her forearm.

He leans forward and moves some hair out of her face when her eyelids flutter open. She jumps startled until she realizes it's him. Her eyes flitter away quickly and he realizes she can't look him in the eyes.

"I didn't think you want to see me." She says lowly.

"I don't." He replies bluntly.

"Everybody hates me."

Lip doesn't disabuse her of that notion. "You need to get fucking help. What the hell were you thinking?"

"I know, I know. I will, I promise. This time, I promise," she pleads.

Lip snorts. "I don't give a shit if you get clean. The only reason I even bother with you is because you're the mother of my child."

He can see the tip of her nose slowly turning red. "Well tell me how you really feel."

"Well what did you think these cries of attention were gonna do?"

Nina keeps her lips closed although her green eyes are brimming with unshed tears.

"You will be lucky if you even get supervised visitation."

"You can't –"

"I fucking can, Nina," he seethes. "We're in the middle of a fucking divorce and decide instead of trying to see your daughter you chose a $40 fix."

"For once, can you act like you give a damn," she whispers through unshed tears.

"Well maybe if I didn't feel like a fucking sponsor I would, but that was 15 overdoses ago." He mutters before walking away to leave the room.

"Lip, Lip, wait, please, Lip!" Nina calls out, but he ignores her.

…

Gemma prides herself on being a good mother and wife. She knows that out of all the bad shit she had done and is privy too that she is a good mother. And no matter what, she will do whatever she has to do to protect her family.

Like now with the warehouse being blown to bits and Jax finding his father's things in storage, she knew there was going to be some rough waters ahead. And between the two of those things, she knew there wasn't much she could do immediately.

However, there is one thing she could do and that is handle Nina.

Gemma has never cared for the gash. From the first moment she laid eyes on the girl she knew she wasn't old lady material. Nina was a thorough party girl, who only cared about her next hit and lay. She was surprised that Lip even entertained Nina for so long. As it wasn't as if he didn't have a revolving door of women like her own son had.

But then Lip and gone and knocked the broad up. She still remembers that announcement at the dinner table. Better yet, she was shocked that Clay held more anger towards Lip than she did. But in a way she dealt with the pregnancy and Nina because she was getting a grandbaby in a way.

But she just hates it took 10 goddamn years for Lip to drop the bitch.

Yet after this and knowing how she planned to do some custody threat, it was time for her to intervene. Lip didn't need any more distractions from this junkie whore.

She doesn't bother knocking as she heads into Nina's room with some flowers. She almost drops the vase when she sees the broad actually reading the fucking bible.

"Hi," she greets and tries not to cringe. Nina has seen better days.

"Hey," Nina replies weakly.

"Brought you some flowers. Cheer up the room a bit."

"Thanks," Nina replies hesitantly as she places the flowers on her rolling cart.

Gemma picks up the worn bible. "Seems like you've been trying to find some repentance?"

"More like forgiveness." Nina counters.

The corner of Gemma's lips curve into a smile. "Maybe we should say a little prayer?"

Nina looks taken back by the suggestion, but nods her head as she grabs unto her hand.

"Dear God, thank you for allowing Lip and Isla to see that this pathetic junkie mom who cared more about a 40 dollar rush... than she did her own flesh and blood."

Nina pulls her hand back offended. "Don't you dare."

"Don't I dare?" Gemma repeats mockingly. "You pathetic whore. You think family court is gonna be impressed with your Bible studies."

"When I check out of here, I'm going into Promises."

Gemma snorts. At this point, Lip should have a wing named after him after all the money he had put up for Nina to get clean. "Let's just throw money at those 12-step freaks. How long is it gonna last this time? Six months? Three? A couple of weeks?"

"It's gonna be different this time." Nina insists. "I'll get clean and come back for Isla."

"That's where you're wrong." Nina isn't even prepared when she charges at her. Gemma grips her pale scrawny neck in her hands. The older woman thrives in knowing that she can still illicit pure unadulterated fear in people. " You have no daughter - _no family_. You lost that privilege. You so much as cast a shadow on that kid or Lip... try to turn some legal screw and get custody... I will finish this job." Gemma threatens as tightens her hand around this pathetic woman's neck before letting go. "I suggest you turn to Jesus." Gemma tells her as she throws the bible back on the roll cart.

…

"What are you doing here?"

It's late and Lip knows he should be at home with his daughter, but he's been having a couple of shitty days.

"You've been ignoring my phone calls." He replies to her.

"Don't want to be arrested for accessory after the fact," she tells him bluntly. He winces as he knows that means the retaliation on the Mayans is already on the news.

"Fawn –"

"You should be at home with your daughter especially after what happened with Nina."

Lip sighs and wonders why he decides to get involved with such complicated women.

"Fuck Fawn, are you going to make me beg?" He asks exasperated.

"I should." She replies with narrowed eyes.

The two are at an impasse. She's stubborn and so is he as he refuses to walk away like a dog with its tail between its legs.

"Fine, but if you try any funny business you're sleeping on the couch."

…

Jax arrives home to a dark house. For some reason, he didn't feel right about this retaliation. He knows that it needed to happen, but his stomach turns from the blood that is splattered on him. He wonders if he can really allow his child to follow into his footsteps. He can't imagine his own flesh and blood killing someone so callously like Clay and Tig had done earlier.

But now he knows that it will get bloodier as the Mayans and the Nords have an alliance. An alliance that will possibly start a war in Charming and bring trouble for all those involved. Hell, Hale was already foaming at the mouth trying to find anyway to tie them to the explosions and have the Feds swoop in.

He heads into the bedroom and finds Cheyenne sleeping and he creeps quietly to the bathroom. He begins to take his clothes off and winces as he looks at the blood that managed to get him in the face and on his chest. He rummages through the linen closet and grabs a rag.

He heads back to the sink and turns on the sink and he puts the rag under water. When he looks back up to his reflection in the mirror, he jumps startled at the sight of Cheyenne standing in the doorway.

He's silent as she eyes him with open concern.

"Are you pissing blood?"

His brows furrows at the question. "What?"

She enters the bathroom and eyes him with critical eyes. Her doctor eyes and she goes behind him and grabs one of her smaller mirrors and aims it so he can see his back. He finds a litter of bruises from where he got shot.

"I'm fine." He insists.

She shakes her head. "Are you pissing blood?" She asks him again.

"Nothing hurts." He tells her.

"Is this your idea of careful?" She asks him quietly as she grabs the washcloth from his hand.

"Chey –"

"I can live with this. I mean I remember when you told me about your first kill," she tells him as she toys with the silver bullet necklace he hands around his neck still. "Would you believe I worry more about if you went to jail?" She says with a broken laugh.

Jax frowns as she takes the rag and begins wiping at his jaw and down his chest.

"Would you wait for me?" He asks her.

She is taken back by the question and she can't seem to look him in the eyes.

"Chey, would you wait for me?"

"I would like to think I could – would – but…"

"But what?"

"I would," she tells him. "I would until you gave me a reason not too."


	12. Gossip Folks

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Another update! One of the major things I'm worried about when writing this ( I'm still writing it. Currently on the episode "June Wedding") is how I want to portray Gemma and Cheyenne's relationship. I think it's going to be something I dont' really delve into until the guys are in Stockton. My goal is to really delve into relationships during the Stockton period. So hopefully I can write it well. We will see how things go. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Corresponds with the episode "Seeds". Please be mindful that I'm trying not to re-write episodes, but at the same time despite knowing what happens, you guys are still being fully informed too. It's a tough balance. As always thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites. Please excuse any spelling and grammar errors.

until then.

* * *

Fawn wakes up feeling warm and comfortable, but as she goes to burrow herself into her bed chasing the warmth, she freezes as her bed is a solid mass instead of a pillow top.

She then groans at herself for allowing Lip to come into her house last night. It was a stupid thing to do as she was trying to create some distance between them. His life was a mess currently with Nina and now the warehouse blowing up. And she loved Isla, but she knows being with Lip means having to fully take Isla on as a daughter, and she has no issues with that, but she couldn't let her child grow up in this Life. And it was this Life that had her thinking that maybe she needed to get away for a bit.

Fawn knows that her and her dad will never have a functioning relationship. She knows she should've just listened to her mother when she and Dawn left Charming. But for some reason, Fawn decided to stay and try to have some twisted version of a life in Charming.

And she can say she did. She had a job, a house, and she did have Lip. Despite how distorted the relationship was, she had him. But at the same time she didn't. They both knew that they wouldn't be able to give each other what they wanted and needed. There would always be parts of them that they couldn't accept with each other.

And it's just doomed. She knows that and she is pretty sure he does too, but they still find their way back to each other.

She slips out of bed with no issues and hops into the shower. She needs to wash him off her.

When he gets out of the shower, she isn't surprised to find him up and smoking a cigarette.

He doesn't greet her with a good morning only smirks at her. Instantly she finds herself annoyed and angry.

"Why are you here?" She snaps at him. She can tell he is taken back by her tone as he leans up in her bed and stubs out his cigarette.

"Nina's in sedated detox. She overdosed again."

Fawn scoffs and she feels the anger burn in her gut at him and this whole situation. And she thinks in that moment she may be done with it all. "I can't be your rebound anymore."

"You're not –"

"I am!" She snaps. "You get pissed at Nina and then you come here and use me to handle your frustrations."

"Where the fuck is this coming from Fawn?"

Fawn shakes her head as she knows these doubts – these truths – have always been there. He has just been blind and deaf. "I refuse to be used anymore, Lip."

Lip reels back as if he's been slapped as his eyebrows skyrocket to his hairline. "Now that's bullshit," he mutters as he gets out of bed and slides on his jeans. "Not once have I ever fucking used you."

"You could've fooled me."

"You know what I'm tired of you always trying to tell me what I'm feeling or putting words in my mouth." He barks at her. "I don't fucking love Nina, Fawn. I _love_ you."

Fawn's lip clamp shut and she finds herself speechless as Lip storms out of her place.

…

Jax thinks he is so not going to regret almost spending a couple grand on a mattress, as he feels he has just gotten the best sleep of his life. He thinks he can manage to get a couple more hours, but he finds himself blinking awake – light filtering through the windows – as a warm hand lazily pumps his cock.

His hand falls back onto the pillow as he moans deliriously. He thinks he might still be dreaming when soft kisses pepper his cheeks, nose, across his jawline, and eventually down his throat.

"Morning," Cheyenne greets into the crook of his neck as she tugs his length to its peak. His eyes open as he watches her kiss her way down his body.

"Shit," he mutters as he shudders as she licks the underside of his cock. His hand reaches out and tangle into her ebony hair as he guides her head.

Cheyenne is still pumping him as he whines as he wants her mouth. "Come on, babe." He groans voice laced with sleep.

Cheyenne presses a kiss to his length before she swallows him down.

Cheyenne groans, mouth full of his girth, and hand pumping what she can't fit and head bobbing down in tandem.

Jax moans uncharacteristically loud as he bucks into her warm, yielding mouth. Her tongue swirls from base to head, before Jax makes her hold her head still as he fucks her throat. She makes scratches along his thighs and abdomen. She feels Jax shudder and she places a commanding pressure on his hip, holding him down. She pulls off his cock making him whine.

"Shh," she coos as she continues to stroke him.

Jax looks at her with heavy lidded eyes, "Need you, darlin'."

"That so?" she drawls as she tugs at him deliberately as he looks wreck beneath her.

He nods weakly.

Cheyenne stands on her knees as she throws his oversized shirt off her body. Jax admires the changes in her body and the small barely there bump that he can't help, but run his hands over. However, it is as he raises his knees as Cheyenne straddles him a troublesome thought pops into his lust hazed mind.

"Wait, can we do this?"

"What?" Cheyenne asks confused.

"Have sex in this position." He clarifies and looks at her stomach. He knows that some positions aren't good for her and the baby.

"Are you serious?" Cheyenne asks with a chuckle.

"Should you be –"

"Jax, the baby will be fine."

"But –"

Cheyenne huffs. "Jackson, right now I'm horny. So are you gonna fuck me or not?"

He doesn't get the chance to respond as she eases herself down on his length. Cheyenne exhales at the sweet sting that stretching around him creates. Her mouth falls open and her palms flatten against his chest.

" _Holy_ shit," Jax moans as he grips her waist as she rolls her hips. He thrusts up into her, her moans filling his ears. Burying himself into her, he yanks her down.

Chest to chest, Cheyenne tangles her hands into his hair, and finds his mouth with her own.

Cheyenne kisses him filthy as her tongue invades his mouth and her taste invades his every sense.

He rocks into her and finds her sweet spot with little effort. A chuckle rumbles from his chest, at the noises escaping her throat. He slams into her with renew vigor as she bites down onto the side of his neck where he is sure a mark will appear.

His insistent hands pull her up and he looks into her pupil blown grey eyes, "You gonna come for me?"

Cheyenne nods as he pounds into her relentless, practically making her _sing_. She lifts and falls onto him a few times, meeting him thrust for thrust, until they crash into blinding euphoria. Jax arches beneath her as he pins her thighs wide as he continues to fuck into her setting off her peak. Spent, Cheyenne falls on top of Jax, who curls her into his warm body like a blanket.

"Morning to you, darlin'." Jax purrs into her neck.

…

Jax strolls into the clubhouse with a smile on his face and is heading to the bar when a gag halts his steps. He looks over to the couch where Lip is sitting moodily. Jax rolls his eyes, but remembers that Nina is putting his brother through the ringer again. Skipping the bar, he makes a detour to his brother.

"How you doing man?"

Lip shrugs his shoulders. "Nina somehow had someone smuggle drugs for her last night. So she overdosed again. But then this morning, I got into a fight with Fawn. Thinks I'm using her or some shit."

Jax frowns. As it was pretty much an open secret about Lip and Fawn. Surprisingly, Tig hasn't said or done anything about the two of them. "Where is that going Lip?"

Lip looks up at him with a raised brow. "Me and Fawn?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know man. I love her." Jax raises a shocked eyebrow at that. "But I never know what the fuck she wants."

"Well she is the devil's offspring." Jax adds.

"Fuck you, man." Lip says with a chuckle. "I think I'm just going to focus on Isla. Women are nothing but trouble."

Jax just keeps his mouth shut.

…

Before heading out to the women's center, Cheyenne finds herself going to Nina's room to check on her. But as she heads down the hall, Lola approaches her with a frown.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She asks her co-worker.

"You're going to see Nina right?"

Cheyenne nods her head and watches as Lola's face falls.

"What happened? Is she dead?"

"No, no, but somehow she managed to get drugs in here," Lola informs her and she looks around the hallways before she grabs her arm and pulls her into the chapel. "I just want you to know people said that Gemma was in the room with her before it happened."

"And?"

"Chey, no one else was seen visiting Nina."

Cheyenne's brows furrows at that information. She knows Gemma is crazy protective over family and Nina has put them all through the ringer, but she wouldn't try to kill Nina in such a cruel callous way.

"Thanks for telling me." Cheyenne tells her.

"I'm sorry, Chey." Lola tells her before walking out of the chapel.

…

At 9 years old, Isla thinks she is more perceptive and mature than her peers. She likes to think it is due to growing up with a junkie mom and a father, who is part of a biker club. And she knows her dad doesn't live on the clean and narrow path. She isn't an idiot to know what people say about SAMCRO. Even more, she isn't stupid to feel all sets of eyes on her and the whispering behind her back.

She has become numb to this sort of thing.

It's even worse when her teachers will pull her aside and make it even more noticeable after headlining news hit the _Charming Gazette_. She made sure to never tell her dad or even worse Gemma about the teachers looking for something to pull her out of what people viewed as a poisonous environment.

But Isla thinks it isn't like that. Her dad treats her well and she loves her dad. In fact, she likes to think she has the best dad she could ever have, but all people saw were the kutte on his chest.

But today, she knows people aren't talking about her dad or what the club has gotten tangled into. She knows the news about one of her mother's overdose has made it through the grapevine.

If anything, her mom was the poisonous one if anything and her dad did everything he could to protect her from the absence of her deadbeat mother.

Isla is picking at a dandelion when Ellie plops down next to her.

"Sorry about your mom."

Isla shrugs her shoulders. It wasn't as if this was her mom's first overdose. "How's your mom and dad?"

"Weird. I don't know." Ellie says with her own shrug of the shoulders.

Isla knows that Ellie is having a hard time with her dad being back home. A part of her doesn't see why Ellie is creating a distance with her dad. From what Isla remembers about Uncle Opie, he was always nice and _there_. Besides, can remember how Uncle Opie would always take her out for ice cream when she was younger.

"At least he's home right?" Isla questions.

"Yeah, but I thought Mom would be happy, ya know. But she's still sad and mad."

Isla nods her head as she doesn't know what to say to that.

…

After Lola's bombshell, Cheyenne had quickly emerged herself into work. After all, the doctors and nurses managed to save Nina and she was in sedated detox.

And Cheyenne decided that it wasn't her problem anymore. Nina wouldn't be her problem. After all, if what Gemma did was true, she wasn't the one that injected it into her veins.

Arriving home, Cheyenne frowns at the sight of the club's black van in the driveway behind Jax's bike. Entering the house, she smells paint and she remembers Jax has Half Sack painting the house for them. Setting her purse down on the counter, Cheyenne walks down the hall and finds Jax tormenting the poor boy.

"What's going on here?" Cheyenne asks and has to bite her bottom lip to stop the laugh that is threatening to bubble up in her throat. Jax jumps slightly and Half Sack looks like a deer in headlights. She doesn't miss how he is covered head to toe in paint while Jax is relatively clean.

Jax flashes a blinding smile as he moves towards her and gives her a sweet kiss on the lips. "Hey, babe," he greets as he pulls back.

Despite the smile on his lips, she can see his brow furrowed in either worry or irritation. "Everything okay?" She asks quietly.

"Rough night," is his quick reply. "I thought your workload was supposed to lighten."

She rolls her eyes at the change in topic as he directs her away from Half Sack and down the hall and into the kitchen.

"It is," she huffs as he begins rummaging in the fridge. "But being pregnant, I need to get as much hours and work done as I can considering for a few months I won't be able too."

"I just don't want you to burn yourself out is all," he says softly.

"I'm not. It's just I was lucky to be able to get into St. Thomas with such short notice."

"I thought you applied here?" Jax says with furrowed brows.

"I did," Cheyenne hastily replies. "I was at another hospital before and it wasn't a good fit." Jax looks at her as if he has some more questions, but she quickly stands up and looks at the box sitting on the table. "Is this the stuff from storage?"

She misses the look that comes across Jax's face as she digs into the box and picks up a photo of a young John Teller and Gemma. "Wow," she says.

Jax stands behind her and he peers down at the photo. "What?"

"You have your dad's smile." She tells him softly as its true. The smile is blinding and happy. It's a rare smile for the Teller men. Cheyenne looks at the next photo, which is of Jax's parents wedding with a very pregnant Gemma with Jax. "Seems you take after your old man." She mutters as it seems both have a tendency to knock women up unexpectedly after one time. She knows John and Gemma were only together for about a month before Gemma got pregnant with Jax.

"You want to get married now?" Jax teases as he takes the photo. "Have to say I don't think white would be suitable."

Cheyenne nudges him in the gut.

Jax chuckles but wraps his arms around her and presses a kiss to her neck. "Seriously, do you?"

Cheyenne sighs. "Jax –"

"We're having a kid, Chey. I think this conversation is bound to happen sooner or later."

Cheyenne purses her lips. "Eventually, playing house won't be enough." She tells him.

…

Opie arrives back after the Unser Tracking run feeling a little weird or more so conflicted. Even though being an outlaw meant being elusive to authority, he felt that honor was still something they thrived on amongst each other and other crews. Opie felt uncomfortable with the fact that Clay deliberately double crossed Unser, despite his running clock on his job due to cancer; the man helped Clay in their sticky situations jeopardizing the integrity of his career.

He knows five years is a long time. People and obviously his club would change, but Opie feels like he hasn't changed. He is still the same man that got locked up five years ago – albeit maybe a little bit broken, but the same man.

He is walking back to his bike when Jax pulls into the lot. As he thinks on it he thinks really only Lip and Jax haven't changed, but then again, Opie knows Jax will change considering he is about to become a father.

He wonders how Jax is going to juggle being the VP of an outlaw motorcycle club as well as being a father. Opie can't imagine Cheyenne letting half the shit these men do slide.

"Hey, Ope," Jax greets. "How was the run?"

Opie shrugs his shoulders. "Did you know Clay was to let Unser's truck get _hijacked_?"

Jax furrows his brows as he stuffs his hands in his pockets. "What are you talking about?"

"Clay gave Unser's truck to Cacuzza. Said it was a good will gesture for the late guns." Opie tells him.

He looks at his friend wondering if he knew this was going to happen, but his friend shakes his head. "Must be about Unser retiring."

Opie hums. He doesn't know what to say.

"You going home?"

"Yeah, I'm already late for my shift at the mill. I'll see you later." Opie says as he gets on his bike.

Arriving home, Opie expected Donna to be gone and he could quickly and quietly take a shower and head to his shift. However, it seemed like fate had other plans as Donna's car was still parked in the driveway. Better yet, he could see her head poking out between the curtains.

He sighs as despite how short his wife was, she was a little pistol. He turns off his bike and keeps his head held high as he enters the house. He barely has the door closed before she rounds on him.

"Where have you been?"

"I was working a job."

"For the club?" Donna asks in disgust.

"It was just a protection run." He tells her.

Donna rolls her eyes. " _Right_. You're a felon, Opie."

"I know that." He replies.

"Do you? You're lucky to even have found a job at the mill and now you're already showing up late or did you even plan on going?"

"Don –"

"I don't want to hear excuses!" She snaps. "For the last five years, I kept this family afloat working three fucking jobs. Taking care of our kids _alone_. And as soon as you get out, you're going right back to the thing that got you locked up in the first place!"

"It wasn't the club's fau –"

"Save it, Opie. I don't want to hear it because no one else did five years except you." Donna seethes as she grabs her purse. "You should get to work, Opie."

"Donna." Opie calls out to her, but she ignores him as she walks out the house.

…

Cheyenne looks at her cart full of junk food and finds that she doesn't feel an ounce of guilt. Sure, Jax might not like the increase in junk food, but he would have to suffer to keep baby Jax happy. Besides, she thinks she needs junk food to handle her crappy work day. She has just left the frozen section and is heading to the checkout aisle when she spots Donna at the register and taking things off the belt. With the way people are looking and the whispers traveling, she knows that the mother of two can't pay for her groceries.

"Donna!" Cheyenne calls out as she pushes her cart out to where Donna is walking towards Opie's truck. She holds up the few bags of groceries that she couldn't afford. She doesn't miss the embarrassed look that comes across her face.

"You didn't need to do that." Donna says as she reluctantly accepts them.

"It was no problem." Cheyenne says dismissively. "How've you've been?"

"I had better days." Donna says shortly to her. "Opie told me that you're pregnant with Jax's kid."

Cheyenne bites her bottom lip and she feels ashamed for once as Donna scrutinizes her. Not once has she or Donna ever had problems, but she feels that maybe Donna is taking her anger and frustrations out with Opie onto everyone associated with the club.

"Yeah, I am. About to hit 16 weeks." She tells her.

"And are you two together?"

Cheyenne stiffly nods her head.

Donna scoffs.

"Donna –"

Donna shakes her head. "Just be careful and really think about what you're about to get yourself into." She warns her before hopping into the truck leaving Cheyenne speechless.

…

With work and now her run in with Donna, Cheyenne finds herself not wanting to attend this family dinner at all. Thankfully, the guys aren't at the house when she approaches Gemma, who is making an antipasto salad.

"Can I talk to you in private?" Cheyenne demands.

Gemma nods her head as she leads her to her greenhouse. "Is something wrong?"

"I want the truth, Gemma. Did you have something to do with Nina's overdose?"

Cheyenne knows it's from the years of lying that Gemma was easily able to keep a blank face. "I visited her last night. We shared a few words. Whatever Nina did that sin is on her."

Cheyenne ignores the fact that Gemma could – can – be lying straight to her face as she shakes her head. "People saw you enter and leave her room, Gemma."

"Do you think I shot her up?" Gemma counters.

"I know how you can be, Gemma." Cheyenne states truthfully. Cheyenne is well aware of the mind games that Gemma sometimes plays with people to get reactions or to move them to fit her agenda. She also knows that there was no love lost between Nina and Gemma. Gemma knew where to hit all of Nina's weak spots. And Nina was susceptible to fall into Gemma's traps considering her fragile state of mind.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I firmly believe in karma," Cheyenne mutters sarcastically. "What I mean is what happens to Nina hurts Isla and my brother."

"Well if she is dead that wouldn't be a problem." Gemma retorts.

"Well you should've given her a higher dose. She has a strong constitution," Cheyenne tells her.

Gemma goes to reply, but their conversation is interrupted by a bubbly Luann.


	13. 16 Weeks

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** So I think alot of you might not like where some of this is going, but I needed something like this for an event to happen in this book. Also, this event isn't something that will be forgotten especially as the second book will heavily deal with Cheyenne as she comes to terms with things. So this is a filler chapter. I will straight out admit it. As always thank you for all the feedback and I hope you enjoy.

until then.

* * *

Dr. Calvin Richards has lived a good life. He worked hard to get to where he did in life. Becoming one of the top specialists in Obstetrician/Gynecologists when it came to maternal fetal health and reproductive endocrinology wasn't an easy feat. It meant having to make a lot of sacrifices.

It meant focusing on his studies than devoting time to personal relationships outside of networking with professors and medical professionals. Now at 47 years old, he can say he might be getting sentimental in his old age.

He has the big house and nice car, but nothing to go home to outside of an empty bed.

The years of sacrifice for becoming a prominent name in the medical community is making him have regrets.

However, it wasn't like he didn't have any relationships. He was a man with needs after all. He could also say with dirty blonde closed cropped hair, brown eyes, and a nice body he maintained that he was attractive to the ladies.

There were a lot of nurses that he had tangled with. Hell, even few of his co-workers at the hospital and the college he messed around with.

Yet, he didn't want flings. Outside of bodily reactions, he never found away one he could relate to emotionally – mentally. Someone that understood his love for work and knowledge and knew that work would always come first until he met her.

Cheyenne Henderson was by far one of his brightest pupils and assists. He still doesn't understand why she doesn't work into getting a specialty in the field. He can say he has been impressed by a lot of people in his years of work, but he has only met a few people like Cheyenne. She learned incredibly fast and was amazed how her brain worked to analyze diagnosis and treat them. He could show her something once and she would easily be able to master it.

And he had taken her under his wing. He began to teach her everything he knew. He guided her through her schooling. And within that, it was only natural that the two would become close.

And Calvin is an ethical man, so he likes to think. He never has slept with a student despite the numerous opportunities that had presented themselves. When he was in a position of power, he respected that position.

But then there was Cheyenne. He wonders if he misread the sign, but he knew that she felt it. Hell, she encouraged it with her smiles and touches. He wonders what went wrong between them. It hurt him more than he could admit that she would up and leave so abruptly and head back to a place called Charming and work at some small backwoods hospital called St. Thomas.

He was lucky that his sabbatical coincided with this abrupt event in his life because he couldn't focus since she left. He was no good in the operating room when his thoughts kept trying to find a diagnosis and treatment plan for what happened between him and her.

And now as he looks at her in this newsletter for St. Thomas, she looks so happy and relaxed that it guts him. Despite the years of knowing her and all the smiles he has received from her, this one was unfamiliar. It's almost like he is looking at a stranger.

He wonders if he really knew Cheyenne Henderson.

He thinks the silver lining is that maybe she just needed space. He overwhelmed her. He knows he is a lot to take in. He has a powering and commanding presence. She needed to figure out what she wanted and branching out could be a good thing. Besides working in such a small hospital she would be able to work with patients more intimately something the bustle of a larger hospital and city couldn't afford. Sure she wouldn't get a wide range of cases, but she would really be able to work on her interpersonal skills. With such a small hospital he knows they always are in need of experts, hell even volunteers, and he quickly finds the number to Margaret Murphy.

…

Cheyenne is laying back on the exam table anxiously. It's another doctor's appointment and this time Jax is by her side. She thinks that she is anxious because Jax is as he is worried about the CHD. Dr. Reed comes in with a bright smile and quickly gets ready for the appointment by going over the usual as checking blood pressure, blood work, urine test, and how she's feeling.

Pretty soon gel is squirted on her belly and the heartbeat of their child fills the room.

"His heartbeat is strong despite the murmur. It's a good thing," Dr. Reed assures Jax more than her. "Besides, heart defects are correctable."

Jax squeezes her hand. "But no matter what as soon as he is born, he'll have to have surgery?" He asks.

Dr. Reed nods her head. "Yes. And the hospital has great and many resources to help you through this."

"Will you be doing the surgery?"

"I'll most likely assist, but Dr. Namid is the specialist for this. And I can set up a meeting with him if you would like."

"He's a good surgeon, Jax. One of the best." Cheyenne adds for some comfort, but she can tell all this is overwhelming for Jax.

However their attention is taken back by Dr. Reed saying _oh_.

"What?" Jax and Cheyenne say at the same time.

"Well your baby's legs are wide open and I can tell you guys the gender if you want?"

Cheyenne looks at Jax and she nods her head that she wouldn't mind knowing.

"Yeah you can tell us." Jax says softly.

"Congratulations Mom and Dad, you're having a boy."

…

Jax can't wipe the smile of his face. Hell, the Mayans could burn down the freaking clubhouse and it still wouldn't change his mood.

He's having a _son_.

Now he knows if his sperm happened to make a girl, as Cheyenne had pointedly told him the few times they discussed the sex of the baby, he would still be happy. But he can admit that the thought of having a girl is terrifying.

Having a boy first he thinks will ease his mind. It will be like dipping his toes in water. A girl he would have to take a whole dive into. He thinks he might never be ready for a girl especially if the girl comes out to look like her mother.

Jax with his arm slung around Cheyenne pulls them to a stop. She's been quiet since they left the exam room.

"You know if it was a girl I still would've been happy." He would've been, but scared shitless too.

Cheyenne looks up at him with her grey eyes and gives him a smile. "I know, but I also know and worked with a lot of patients to know a guy having a boy is like a male thing. Besides you know I didn't really have a preference."

Jax smiles at her then he leans down and presses a kiss to her lips. He meant for it just to be a playful peck, but he has found he can never have enough when it comes to her. He turns fully as he cups her face and he can feel her small bump against his stomach that makes him want her even more.

However, it seems Cheyenne can see where this will eventually lead as she pulls back from him.

"We're in public, Jax."

Jax opens his mouth to say something, but a harsh fake cough pulls them apart.

Jax turns around and finds an older woman with red hair looking at him with open distaste as she eyes his leather kutte.

He finds her in an ill-fitting beige suit and he locates an ID that proclaims her name as Margaret Murphy. He remembers Cheyenne mentioning that she was the hospital administrator, her boss. From the looks of it, he can tell Cheyenne hasn't been too forthcoming about him being the father of her child. He can admit he is unsure how he feels about it.

"It must've been a good visit," Margaret observes.

Jax opens his mouth to say something and to properly introduce himself, but Cheyenne quickly steps in.

"Hi, Margaret, this is Jax Teller, my boyfriend and the father."

Jax extends his hand with a smile, "Nice to meet you."

Margaret looks at his extended him before she returns the greeting with a forced cold smile. "Likewise." She pulls her hand back and Jax is surprised the woman didn't bust out some hand sanitizer or try to cut her hand off to replace it. "But actually it's a good thing I ran into you," she directs to Cheyenne. "I received a call from Dr. Calvin Richards. Seems interested in volunteering his time here at St. Thomas."

Jax looks down at Cheyenne and if he didn't know her so well he would have missed how her spine stiffened and how her eyes got dark for only a moment. And now he is wondering who the fuck this Dr. Richards is.

"Really, I didn't know we could afford someone of his caliber."

Margaret's smile tightens. "Apparently he is on sabbatical and he is looking to work on some research about small private hospitals and clinics, I was hoping if he is able to make it that you could show him the ropes since you were his assist."

"If my schedule allows it," Cheyenne replies hastily before she turns back to look up at him. "You know I think the baby and I are hungry." She says as she rubs her belly pointedly effectively ending the conversation.

…

Jax allows Cheyenne to distract him with baby talk as she toys with the idea of having a gender reveal party, but concludes that he wouldn't be able to hold a secret that long. He keeps the distraction going as they scarf down their food and even some people offer congratulations on the baby.

But despite his joyous mood, he doesn't like the feeling in his gut from Cheyenne's changed demeanor when that doctor was mentioned.

It's then he realizes he knows next to nothing about Cheyenne's time away from home. She has never mentioned any of the friends she made and all her teachers. The fact that even in a small town like Charming that this Dr. Richards is well known, he knows this man was be pretty big in the medical community. If Cheyenne knows him personally enough that she worked under him – with him, Cheyenne, not that he ever had any doubt, was probably a force to be reckoned with in her field.

And now whatever other goals she wanted to achieve within her career were going to be put on hold because of him. Because he managed to knock her up, now she was stuck in Charming.

"Who's Dr. Richards?" He asks abruptly, which takes her back.

"A former of teacher of mine." She tells him.

"And you worked with him?"

She nods her head.

"You don't seem thrilled about him coming here." He points out.

"He's just a lot, Jax." She tells him.

He furrows his brow. "What the fuck does that mean?"

"It means he is pretty big in the medical field. A lot of pressure working with him."

Jax doesn't like the feeling in his gut. Something isn't connecting to him and he knows Cheyenne isn't telling him something. "And he's coming to Charming?"

Cheyenne shrugs her shoulders. "I guess. I don't talk to him, Jax. He's at a point in his career, he can do stuff like this."

"What travel arrive to towns like Charming?" He asks in disbelief. "Is something you need to tell me?"

"No," Cheyenne replies quickly, a little too quick to believe her.

"I just don't want you to feel stuck here, Chey." He tells her. "It's obvious you can go anymore. I don't want this kid to feel like you need to be here."

"Jax, I really don't want to talk about this. I'm not going anywhere. I'm fine and happy working at St. Thomas. Please stop worrying about stuff that's irrelevant."

But that's not in Jax's nature.

His mind is always working to be ten steps ahead of a problem. Eventually, Cheyenne is growing to outgrow Charming. Her skill will outgrow it. He would be stupid not to realize this and to know that she will probably outgrow him. Because he knows that he will never leave Charming and now he has a son to pass his legacy down onto. She'll be unhappy with him and this life.

"Your boss doesn't seem to like me much."

Cheyenne rolls her eyes. "Ignore her. She doesn't really seem to like anyone much."

"Well with that pole stuck up her ass…"

Cheyenne chuckles before she takes a sip of her water. "So who are we going to tell first about the sex?"

…

Jax watches as Opie raises an eyebrow as they two of them exit Cheyenne's car. Cheyenne all but bounces over to Opie and gives him a hug.

Sometimes Jax forgets that Cheyenne and Opie have a deep relationship. He knows she used to take some free time to visit Opie while he was in Chino. When Lip was too infatuated with Nina and Jax struggled with his conflicting feelings with her, Opie was her other _brother_. After all, Jax used to joke that Opie was like a Buddha or Ghandi always sprouting some deep philosophical shit that people needed to hear when they would rant to him with their problems.

Opie gives her a bear hug, which has him lifting her off the ground, which calls her to giggle.

Opie greets him with a handshake. "So what brings you over here?"

Considering Opie is outside shirtless, Jax presumes the man is getting some repairs down around the house on his day off. It seems when his friend isn't working, he is working at home.

"We come bearing some good news."

Opie raises a brow at that as he folds his arms across his chest. "Well you're already pregnant. Did you elope?"

Opie can't help the chuckle that escapes his throat at the look on both of Cheyenne's and Jax's face. He wishes he had a camera to capture the moment.

Jax is the first one to recover. "No, Ope." Jax digs into his pocket and brings out a photo that Opie is familiar with from his own experience. "You're about to be an uncle to a little boy."

With Cheyenne on his phone with his mother about having a dinner tonight, Jax and Opie have a minute alone. Opie brings his a beer and sits down next to him.

"So a boy, huh?" Opie says with a grin. "Think you're ready for that?"

"Is anyone ever ready for a kid?" Jax replies.

"Well it's about time you caught up to me and Lip."

"Can you even imagine me having a kid back then?" Jax says honestly. He was too wild and he imagines that whoever would've been the mother it would have been a fucking disaster. He shudders at those thoughts.

"No, you were smart and made sure you wrapped your shit up."

"Yeah, I paid attention in sex-ed."

Opie snorts. "Not nearly enough."

Jax flashes him a wicked grin.

"So you two doing good I take it?"

"Yeah, sometimes I think too good." Jax reveals.

"Well you and Chey always had an easy relationship."

Jax nods his head in agreement.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it. Besides once the baby is here you're going to need to prepare for Cheyenne to take all her frustrations out on you. Women tend to hold this pregnancy shit against you with all this talk about sacrificing their vagina and shit."

Jax cringes. "Is that what Donna does to you."

"Shit man, I thought she was going to kill me when I knocked her up with Kenny. The whole pregnancy she had no problem in reminding me about this was not planned again and we were never having sex again." Opie tells him. "But with Chey being a doctor and all, she might be handling pregnancy different since she knows all the mechanics of it."

Now that was an understatement. Sometimes he felt Cheyenne was too chill with this pregnancy. She was honestly making pregnancy look like a walk in the park as if it was nothing. But then again she was barely showing now as it was her first pregnancy.

"Well it seems you haven't gained off that sympathy pregnancy weight."

"Well I'm about too. Chey went grocery shopping the other day and all she came back with was Honey Buns, Hos-Hos, and Cupcakes. But even then…her sex drive is out of this fucking world." Jax admits.

"Ugh, I do not want to fucking hear this." Opie says with a scowl.

Jax laughs. "I had to hear this shit when Donna was pregnant."

"Yeah, but Donna wasn't like a sister to you. Cheyenne is my sister."

Jax shrugs his shoulders and thinks about these recent morning wakeup calls he gets from Cheyenne before she heads to work.

"Dude…stop." Opie groans. "You better get used to this before the kid is here. Your whole life is about to change."

Jax blows out a breath. "Don't I fucking know it."

"You'll be alright. You have Chey and your mom. Hell, you've seen me and Lip stumble through it." Opie says comfortably.

"I know. I just don't want to fuck the kid up," Jax reveals.

With finding his father's manuscript, and reading his father's regrets, it's making him question who he is and who he wants to be. He idolized his father – still does. But now, with him becoming a father and reading his father's doubt, he knows that he doesn't want his own son to follow in these bloody footsteps. He doesn't know if he could look down at his son – hold his son – and truthfully would want him to grow up knowing the burdens of what it means to be an outlaw. He doesn't know if he could burden Cheyenne with that knowledge her son would one day kill a man like he had done at 20 years old.

He knows the club needs to change to something that doesn't end with his brothers, his son, dying bloody. A future that doesn't leave Cheyenne being a grieving mother or Old Lady, he can't do that to his family. And Jax loves his club more than anything. The club was his whole world, but he thinks he is starting to see how the club, being an outlaw, and a father might not be able to align.

"You're a good man, Jax. You'll be a good father. I know that's hard with being an outlaw."

"But?" Jax questions.

Opie shrugs his shoulders. "No, buts. It's the truth."

…

After dinner, Jax finds his mom standing in baby's nursery.

Cheyenne had invited over his mom and Clay along with Fawn, Lip, and Isla to announce the gender. She had told him that he could tell the rest of the club and he was fine with that. Besides right now they didn't have the room to host the whole table in their house.

He leans against the doorframe as his mom admires the room. He knows his mom has wanted this for a long time. Since even before he was conceived she had always wanted a big family and that included her own kids providing her grandchildren.

He knows his mom wanted a lot of kids when she was younger, but she was only able to have him and Thomas. Then Thomas was taken from her and he was the only one left. Jax can admit sometimes he felt pressure to be that perfect son for his mom. He knew in the back of his mind no matter what his mom loved him fiercely. Still he didn't want to disappoint her. And he knows that even though she hated Tara at least there was the hope she would get him to settle down and give her grandchildren, but they didn't work out. Then he slept his way through California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Arizona. He could tell that his mom was worried about her only son never providing her with grandbabies and at a point he thinks she would've settled for him impregnating a croweater.

But now as she admires the furniture, he thinks he may have actually done something to really make his mother proud that isn't connected to the club.

"You know I was scared this day wouldn't come." She says as she turns to face him.

"Can't make things too easy," he tells her with a smile.

She returns it and so walks over to the dresser where she picks up the photo of him as a baby with her and his dad.

"You found this in storage?"

Jax nods his head. "Yeah, it was just a bunch of pictures. Harley manuals."

She admires the photo of her when she 18 and so goddamn in love with John. She places the photo down and looks at her son. "I'm real proud of you, Jax."

"Hey Ma, the kid still isn't here yet. Who knows how bad I can still screw up?"

"You're not going to _screw_ anything up," she protests. "Your father was clueless too, but he did it. So did Clay."

Jax shrugs his shoulders.

His mom leans against the dresser and he follows her movement and watches as she digs into her pocket and holds out an item.

A small baby blue reaper beanie for a baby.

"This was yours from when you were a baby." She tells him as he gingerly takes the item. "He's your son, Jax. That boy will love you no matter what."

"I know, Ma –"

"Then what is it." She presses.

"I just want to make _him_ proud."

Gemma nods her head in understanding. She knows John still haunts her boy. "You do."


	14. Fun Town

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

* * *

Cheyenne's eyes pop open and she finds herself sucking in a harsh breathe as her lungs struggling to work properly. She goes to wipe her forehead that is saturated with sweat. She jumps when she feels a hand caress her stomach and a body tenses behind her.

"You okay?" Jax asks softly.

Cheyenne nods her head. "I'm fine. Just a nightmare."

"Another one?" He asks concerned laced in his voice.

Cheyenne winces as this was another nightmare she has had in the past week. She doesn't know how much longer she can write it off as a pregnancy symptom.

Jax sits up and she's thankful he doesn't turn the lights on. "What was this one about?"

"I don't remember." She tells him, another lie. She isn't going to tell him it's about her back in San Diego. It isn't about what she ran from back to Charming.

"Are you sure this is normal?" He questions.

"Jax, we rarely remember our dreams."

She can see his scowl through the moonlight. She knows he hates when she begins talking like a medical professional to him.

"Chey –"

"I'm fine, Jax," she snaps and a tense silence overtakes the bedroom.

Cheyenne sighs and she immediately feels guilty because she knows Jax is only trying to help and she is here lying to him. Cheyenne sits up and gets ready to apologize when she feel something similar to butterfly wings fluttering in her stomach.

" _Oh_."

"What?" Jax asks worriedly and she feels the fluttering again.

Her hands go to her stomach, "It's the baby. I can feel him moving." She tells him excitedly and her nightmare is forgotten.

"Really?" Jax says and the movement in her belly picks up and his hand goes to her growing bump. Now at 17 weeks on her she thinks she finally looks pregnant and as a small noticeable bump that doesn't look like she ate too much. She knows Jax can't keep his hands of it.

"I think he recognizes the sound of your voice," she tells him softly.

Jax beams at her as she crawls down eye level to her stomach. "Jax, what are –"

"Hey little man," Jax says to her stomach and a rapid succession of fluttering happens, which takes her by surprise. "Where can you feel it at?"

Cheyenne moves her hand to her right side where she feels it more strongly. Jax presses a kiss there and goddamnnit her eyes start watering.

"Hey, bud, it's your dad," he tells her stomach before he presses another kiss there and Cheyenne's heart just melts.

Jax goes to say something else, but she tugs him up and presses a needy kiss to his lips.

Soon, she's sweaty for another reason.

…

Lip is unsure how he feels about this. He doesn't even know why he agreed to do this, but Isla wanted too. With Nina out of sedated detox, he and Isla are walking down the halls of St. Thomas so Isla can see her mother.

He doesn't know why she wants too, but when his daughter asked he couldn't find it in himself to say no. At the end of the day, Nina is her mother and a part of Lip knows that after this, Nina will probably become some absent figure that probably won't even send a post card their way.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Lip asks his daughter. He just wants to spare his daughter this fucking weight of having a junkie mom. He thinks he will be glad when Nina is gone. Things might be easier without her around.

"Yeah, I do." Isla assures him.

He doesn't bother knocking as he opens Nina's door. She laying in bed watching TV and he can say his wife has seen better days. Her blonde hair was growing out, brown roots showing. Her skin looks sunken in and pale and he thinks this is a shade of the woman he used to love.

But when he really thinks about it, he had done this too her. He did this.

He knows loving someone like him isn't easy, but they were young and he was stupid. He didn't know the meaning of relationships and what they meant. He didn't know what he wanted except a good time. Nina was just easy. For a time she was uncomplicated. She didn't ask or demand things from him except his dick and he was perfectly okay with that. But he started to grow up and she never did. Then she became pregnant and he resented her for it.

Nina is caught by surprise at the sight of them. She tries to fix her appearance as she pushes back some of her frizzy blonde hair, but it's no use unless she had some makeup stashed in the room. Lip stands back by the door away from Nina as Isla moves closer to the hospital bed. This visit isn't about him.

"Hey," Nina greets hesitantly as her eyes flicker back and forth between them.

"How are you feeling?" Isla asks her.

"Better," Nina tells her with a strained smile. "How are you?"

"Fine," Isla says flippantly.

"I'm glad you're here," Nina says hastily. "I missed you."

Isla scoffs. "I find that hard to believe."

"It's true," Nina insists. "I know…I've messed up a lot, but you're still my daughter and I love you so much." Nina tells her with watery eyes. "And I'm sorry that I did this."

"Why _did_ you do this?" Isla demands to know.

Nina looks taken back by the question and Lip bites the urge to scoff. Nina should've known that at some point Isla was going to want answers. She was going to need some sort of explanation for why she did the things she did.

Nina licks her cracked lips and looks away from their daughter guilty. "What I have is an addiction – a disease –"

"Bullshit!" Isla interjects.

Lip is taken back by his daughter's language so is Nina. "Isla –"

"No, that is straight bullshit. You were already here for an overdose. You are at the hospital! Why would you shoot up again? Why?"

Nina opens her mouth, but promptly closes it. She can't damn well say that Gemma left her there to stare at the tube. She stared at it for over an hour before she injected it into her favorite vein. The only thing she proved was how utterly weak so was. She proved to Gemma that she was a pathetic junkie that cared more about a fix than her own family.

Yet, she doesn't think people understand what it is like to love a man in this life. People don't understand what it is like to love Lip.

"I hate you," Isla says abruptly breaking her out of her thoughts. Nina is taken back by this and gapes at her daughter with an open mouth. Lip seems to even be taken back by this as he begins to move away from the wall. "I hate what you've done to our family. What you've done to Dad."

"Isla, please –" Nina begins to beg as tears fall freely from her face, but Isla turns her back to her and rushes out of the room.

Lip follows her and he finds his daughter outside the room trying to fight her tears. If there was one thing that could break him it would be his daughter crying like this. He folds his daughter in his arms and he lets her cry.

…

"You should really take the day off." Jax tells Cheyenne as he presses a kiss behind her ear.

Cheyenne not falling into his trap elbows him in the gut, but it doesn't stop him from trying to complete his mission.

"I need to go to work, Jax," she tells him. "Besides it's not like I can enjoy anything being pregnant."

Jax's hands cup her bump over her scrubs. Cheyenne has really popped and there is no denying that Cheyenne Henderson is pregnant. And he thinks the mother of his child should take the day off and enjoy what Fun Town has to offer pregnant or not.

"Doesn't matter. There's food and shit."

"Oh so now you want me fat too. Isn't being pregnant enough."

"Well now that you mentioned it," Jax says teasingly, "Some things have been looking fuller." His hands move from her belly to her breasts much to her annoyance, which causes him to laugh.

"You're such a perv."

"Says the girl that was just fucking me in the shower 30 minutes ago."

"And that will be the last time I do that." Cheyenne drawls.

"Yeah, I think I sprained a back muscle."

This time Cheyenne punches him with her little fist and damn it did sting a little. "I'm kidding."

"Well now the only thing you're going to be riding is the couch."

Jax bites his lip to hold back the snort wanting to escape his throat as he knows that is a damn lie. One, his ass isn't going to be sleeping on no damn couch. Two, he knows his little vixen wouldn't last a day without sex with the way she's been going at it. He fears he may have trouble keeping up with her.

Jax pulls her back into his arms and presses a kiss on her cheek. "I guess I will win you a stuff animal. Bring you back a caramel apple."

"That's the least you could do." She replies with a hairy eyeball.

"How about I'll bring you some lunch and dinner today. Get you a milkshake?"

"Sounds better," Cheyenne replies.

…

Sending Cheyenne off to work, Jax heads to Fun Town alone. The only reason he was attending this was for good PR for the club. If he had his way, he would be at home still trying to convince Cheyenne to play hooky. He smirks at the thought of Cheyenne and how she still left with a scowl on her face from his playful words from earlier.

It was his first chance to witness the infamous pregnancy hormones because he knew he was going to pay for those words. And honestly he couldn't wait. Entering the park, he greets a few people. He sends a few harmless flirty smiles to some young teenage girls when his eyebrows nearly shoot to his hairline. He at first spots Lip, but then he sees Fawn with Isla trailing after him as they con him into buying them food from the concession.

It was one thing for Lip to be out in public with Fawn, but it was a whole other thing for him to be out with Fawn and Isla in public.

Jax makes his trek over to the family and he can't hide his surprise.

"Uncle Jax," Isla greets as she gives him a hug.

"Hey, kid," Jax greets and looks up at Fawn and Lip and shoots them an inquisitive look. Fawn rolls her eyes while Lip keeps a blank face.

"Is Aunt Chey coming?" Isla asks him as she pulls away.

"Naw, she had to go to work." He tells her apologetically as she pouts.

"Well someone has to support him, Isla," Fawn interjects as she takes the girl's hand. "Let's go spend more of your dad's money." She says as she holds up Lip's wallet. Fawn must have pickpocketed it as Lip looks shocked as he pats his pockets finding them empty.

Fawn leads Isla away cackling.

"What's up with that?" Jax asks.

"Isla saw Nina today." Lip tells him. "Thought she needed some female companionship."

"I hope you know you're sending a very loud message, bro."

Lip only shrugs his shoulders before asking about Cheyenne.

…

Getting an elephant using Lip's money, Fawn and Isla walk over to one of the picnic tables and begin eating their powdery heart attack. Fawn can tell the little girl is out of sorts and she could've slapped Lip for even letting Isla see her mom knowing that Nina wouldn't be able to give the girl what she wanted. However, Fawn also realizes that in her and Lip's complicated relationship that with creating some distance from Lip, she also was creating some with Isla.

Fawn goes to ask Isla about her visit with her mom, but Isla asks her something that she isn't exactly ready to answer.

"What's going on with you and Dad?"

Fawn's mouth closes and she tries to gather a cohesive answer. She knows lately she and Lip haven't exactly been discreet, but they never were blunt with their interactions in public especially since there was Isla. They never did anything too obvious that would garner confusion for the little girl.

"We're friends," Fawn settles on. But she knows Isla has a great bullshit detector.

"That kiss." Isla adds.

"It's complicated." Fawn tells her.

"Like it is with my mom." Isla says bitterly.

A nauseous feeling settles in Fawn's gut because the last thing she wants is for her relationship with Lip to ever be compared to his relationship with that junkie whore.

"I care for your dad, deeply. I don't want to hurt him or you," she tells the little girl honestly. "But there are things I need to deal with before I can be with your dad the way he needs." She can tell Isla understands, but at the same time she doesn't, so Fawn clarifies. "You know I don't get along with my dad. We don't talk at all and there are things…that I'm still angry about. And I don't want that anger to get placed onto your dad, ya know. Create resentment."

Isla nods her head. "But you love him?" Isla asks.

Fawn nods her head. "I do, but just because you love someone doesn't mean you should be with them."

…

Cheyenne watches silently as the hospital's lawyers take away the affidavit that Nina has signed that clears the hospital of any wrong doing.

She can say her estranged sister in law looks like shit with her stringy bleach blonde hair and sunken skin. It seems the years of drug abuse are showing now.

Once the lawyers leave, Cheyenne steps closer to Nina's bed, and level her sister in law with a critical look, "Feelin' better?"

"A little dopey," Nina replies with a self-conscious chuckle, "so to speak."

"They said you had a friend smuggle in that syringe of meth." Cheyenne states.

"Yeah, I just signed the affidavit. Hospital's a little nervous about the liability issues."

"I'm sure they are."

Nina looks over at her and then trails down to her stomach and chuckles.

"What?" Cheyenne questions.

"Could we be at more opposite ends of the shit spectrum?"

"Yeah, we're not that different." Cheyenne tells her honestly. Outside of the drugs, she knows Nina is just the same girl like her who grew up without parents that gave a shit. Hell Nina had started to go to college before she became a full time mommy to Isla before the stress made her continually relapse and dwell deeper into drugs.

"Save it, sweetheart. I don't need a pep talk. I know what I am."

"So do I. And you're not suicidal." She was a junkie plain and simple, but not once has Nina ever been suicidal. Not once. "You didn't have _anyone_ smuggle in that dose."

"Don't go down that road." Nina warns.

"She the one who injected you?" Cheyenne asks her.

"No!" Nina says appalled. "I stared at that five-mil tube for over an hour... and then I pumped it into my favorite vein. End of story."

"Why?" Cheyenne questions her. Even if Lip and Nina hated each other, Nina still had Isla. She still had something – someone – to live for.

Nina laughs. "God, if you don't know why, then you and me... are nothin' alike. You're about to become a mom…you'll see how toxic all of this is."

"I'm pretty sure getting high isn't the way to handle it though," Cheyenne mutters before she leaves the room.

…

With Jax taking Isla on a few rides, Fawn and Lip have a moment to themselves. Fawn is sipping on a slushy while Lip tries not to snort as Jax's face gets paler at each twirl of the ride he's on.

He looks over at Fawn, with her long jet black hair and full lips, and sometimes can't believe she is the spawn of Tig. Outside of their hair and piercing blue eyes, the similarities end there.

"Thanks for doing this."

She brushes him off. "It's no big deal. I missed hanging out with Isla anyway."

"You miss hanging out with me?" Lip teases.

Fawn rolls her eyes, but the playful look in her eyes disappears as she stares at something behind him. Turning around he finds Tig approaching with a scowl on his face. Lip goes to say something to Fawn, but they are then bombarded by Isla and Jax. Isla then easily distracts the guys.

"Dangerous game, bro," Jax whispers to him.

"Least I didn't get her pregnant," Lip replies with a glare.

Jax rolls his eyes at him and goes to say something else when Juice comes jogging over announcing the Irish are there.

Lip then becomes distracted by the large plush animal and the multiple Carmel apples. "Why in the hell do you have all that?"

"It's for the kid and your sister," Jax says in a _duh_ tone.

…

After work craving some Cheetos, she is at the checkout line when she spots Opie at the register. "Opie!" She calls out.

He looks up at his name and spots her and shoots her a smile as he motions her to come forward. "I'll pay for hers too." He tells the cashier as he looks at her one item of chips.

"Oh, Opie, you don't need too."

"I can afford a bag of chips." Opie says with a strained smile.

Cheyenne's lips compress in a thin line.

She can tell the man is stressed as she looks at the three packs of cigarette he is purchasing along with his meager items of bread and butter with peanut butter and jam.

"Thanks, Ope."

"No problem." He tells her as he grabs the bags.

"Did you go to Fun Town today?"

"Nah, I just got off work. Got some overtime."

"Did you have some dinner yet?"

He shakes his head.

Cheyenne looks around and she spots Julian's café. "Come on, dinner's on me."

"Chey, no that's fine. I should go home."

"Ope, I insist."

"Chey –"

" _Opie_."

Seeing the look on her face, he complies with her request. Opie knows better than to try to argue with a pregnant woman. Besides he has missed Cheyenne and she was the little sister he had always wanted.

"So how is work?" She asks him once they are seated and the waitress took their drink order.

"Outside of spitting sawdust out of my ass, fine. Pays some of the bills." He tells her.

"How bad is it?" She asks quietly.

"Almost 30,000 in debt." He reveals to her truthfully. "We could pay it back…if I jumped back in."

"Does Donna know why you went in Opie?"

Opie shakes his head. "What good would it do? Doesn't change that I still did five years. I could blame Kyle, but I knew the risks that night."

"Are you going to patch out?"

"I don't want to. I can't." He tells her.

It doesn't need to be said that this Life was all he knew. It was what he was groomed for. But at the same time this Life was cracking his marriage and nothing good could come from that.

"I don't want her to be miserable, ya know. But I know I won't file for divorce. Hell, I pushed for it when I first went in. I love her too much to let her go." Opie tells her.

"Maybe it's just catching up. It's hard to be angry at someone when they aren't there. Now that you're home…she can properly take it out on you." Cheyenne explains.

Opie chuckles at that.

Cheyenne furrows her brows. "Why are you laughing?"

"Because Jax told me the same exact thing." Opie tells her and her cheeks for some reason flush pink. "How are you two by the way?"

"We're good. I know things are gonna change once the baby will come, ya know."

"Yeah, but you guys already have history. You should be fine." Opie assures her. "So how does it feel to be back in Charming because the last time I checked you were happy down in San Diego."

"I was."

"But?" Opie pries.

"I was lonely, I guess. 9 years of school and work…I needed something else."

"And that something else happened to be Jax?"

Cheyenne shoots him an annoyed look. "You know what I mean."

"I do. 9 years is a long time to figure that out though, Chey. Was it something else? A guy?"

"Opie –"

"You can tell me, Chey."

"I know, but there is nothing to tell. I promise."

Opie doesn't look convince, but he drops the subject and their conversation soon turns to the kids in their lives.

…

After munching on a caramel apple that Jax got her for breakfast, Cheyenne is in a pretty good mood at work. However, her good mood deflates as the news about Tristan Oswald makes its way towards her. The girl was only 13 years old and some despicable man had raped her. Furthermore, he had raped her here in Charming. Stuff like this doesn't happen in Charming. Things like this never happened considering the SONS always had everything contained, but this had happened to one of the most prominent citizens of their small world.

It doesn't take long for her to hear that SAMCRO was also trying to find the rapist.

She is making her rounds when she finds her brother leaving Nina's room, which shocks her.

"I didn't know you two were on friendly terms." She tells him as he approaches her.

"We're not. Going over divorce related stuff."

"And by that you mean you are going to make sure she is taken care of until she's settled down." Cheyenne guesses.

"You about to jump down my throat for it?" Lip asks.

"I'm just curious to when this cycle ends?" She replies honestly.

"It's not like we're together or anything."

"I know, but she's an adult, Lip. You're always taking care of her from some misguided guilt. I just want you to take care of yourself for a change."

"Well I'm glad I got my baby sister to look out for me," Lip says as he flashes a smile.

"Yeah don't you forget it?" She tells him.

"Like you would even let me." He tells her as he throws his arm around her shoulder.

"How's Isla?" She asks.

"Good." He says and she watches as his eyes narrow.

"What's wrong?"

"Did you hear about what happened to Tristan?" He asks her quietly.

Cheyenne frowns. "Yeah. I also heard you were looking for the guy that did it."

"Yeah," Lip confirms. "Never in my life would I've thought something like this would happen in Charming. The thought of this could've been Isla…hell even you…I can kill this guy with my bare hands. You and Isla are my whole world, Chey. I will have no problem gutting the son of a bitch who would even attempt to hurt you."

Cheyenne sighs. She knows her brother means his words and she knows she should be concerned by them, but she's not. "Lip –"

"It's the truth, Chey." He tells her, but this time his attention is taken by someone down the hall. "I gotta go. I'll talk to you later."

Before she can even utter goodbye, her brother is following the person he saw and narrowing her eyes she makes out the plain features of Darby.

Shaking her head, she decides she doesn't want to know why the club would be looking for Darby. She is walking back down the hall to head to the nurses station when her phone begins to ring, the caller unknown.

"Hello."

"Hey. I'm- I'm glad I'm not sick. You're a tough doctor to track down."

Cheyenne's heart drops at the voice she never wanted to hear again and she snaps her phone.

…

Cheyenne is pleasantly surprised when Jax shows up baring her some dinner – Chinese to be exact. Rubbing her hands with some hand sanitizer, she sands on her tippy toes and gives him a kiss in thanks. "I'm surprised you were able to do this while playing Avenger."

He shrugs his shoulders as he begins to follow her down to the cafeteria. "Not like we're getting anywhere."

Cheyenne grabs his hand. "You'll figure it out."

He brings her hand up and presses a kiss to it. "How you feeling today?"

"Tired, honestly."

"How much longer do you have?"

"Three hours."

"That's almost a 15 hour shift, Chey."

"I know. I know, but I have the next two days off."

"Are you on call?" He asks pointedly.

"Not tomorrow."

"I thought your workload was supposed to lessen."

"It will, Jax. Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I'm invalid." She remarks bitterly.

He grabs her arm making her stop in her tracks. "I know that, but you don't have a normal pregnancy, Chey. I'm just worried about you and my boy."

Cheyenne sighs and rubs her forehead. "I know. I don't mean to jump down your throat."

He nods his head and she directs him to one of the back tables for some privacy as she eats the dinner he brought with her occasionally feeding him some.

Yet, their quiet dinner is interrupted when Oswald asks to speak to Jax alone.

Cheyenne finishes her dinner quietly and is done by the time Oswald walks away tense and Jax with a stressed irritated look on his face.

She knows that Karen has boxed everyone from talking to Tristan including the cops. And being a medical professional she can easily get into the room with no question as long as Karen is away.

"Jax, I can help." She tells him.

He looks taken back by that.

"I know Karen isn't letting anyone into the room, but I can get in."

Jax shakes his head. "I'm not asking you to do that."

"I want to help, Jax."

Jax looks skeptical, but he nods his head in acceptance.

Making sure the coast is clear; Cheyenne enters Tristan's hospital room. She finds the teenager playing on her phone. She swallows the ball that was forming in her throat at the bruise that marred Tristen's jaw. "You doing okay?"

Tristen doesn't say anything, but down casts her eyes as she shrugs her shoulders.

A part of Cheyenne feels guilty since she is essentially going to be milking a victim for information, but it is worth it because justice needed to be done and Tristen needs to open up because she knows the burden of keeping something like this locked tight inside you.

Cheyenne takes a seat on the edge of Tristan's bed and stuffs her heads in her lab coat. She hates to imagine that this could've easily been Isla laying in this bed.

"I had this teacher during med school that took me under his wing," Cheyenne starts. "He was nice and really helpful and he became my mentor. I didn't think anything of it that sometimes he went out of his way to help me, ya know. He would always tell me I was his most promising student. Then I started my residency and of course he helped me get that and I started to feel things change with how he saw me.

I was done with school for the most part and then I started to branch out. One night, he invited me to his house. In my gut, I knew I shouldn't have gone, but I did. I went over there and I realized he expected something. I realized he had abused my trust. I fought hard that night…" Cheyenne tells her with a shaky breath. She still remembers seeing the nice display of food Calvin had laid out. She remembers immediately trying to backtrack and how he insisted she stay. She recalls how he sat so close to her as she ate and when his hand had slipped onto her thigh. It took a turn for the worst after that. As she tried to fight him off, she thought for sure he would win the dominance he wanted over her.

Cheyenne sees Tristen's features turn into shock before it softens. "My mom says we shouldn't talk about it. It should be secret." Her voice is so small and broken.

Cheyenne leans forward and takes ahold of Tristen's hand, "You shouldn't do that because something like this will eat you alive."

Cheyenne doesn't tell her that she never really told anyone except for her. She didn't tell anyone that the reason she ran back to Charming was because of Calvin Richards and how she knew no one would believe her that he tried to take advantage of her.

"Did you ever get over it?" Tristen asks delicately.

"It's not easy and there are some days harder than others, but it makes you stronger because you survived through something like this that could kill a lot of people."

"It was the clown," Tristen mumbles, as a tear falls down her cheek.

…

Jax comes home pissed.

He finds himself irritated with Clay and how he deliberately blackmailed Oswald under the disguise of keeping Charming safe. It wasn't the double crossing that irritated him so much. It was just the secrecy of the whole ordeal and how Clay didn't consult him about it. It also did help that Clay would use a situation like this to his whole advantage. It doesn't settle in his gut well. It makes him wonder what else Clay does without consulting anyone.

He throws his things done on the end table in the foyer and kicks off his shoes and kutte before he makes his way down the hall to the bedroom. He finds Cheyenne curled in a ball under the covers. He slips out of his clothes until he is in his boxers and slides up behind her.

"Jax?" She asks groggily.

"Yeah, it's me," he tells her. "Go back to sleep."

Instead of going back to sleep, she turns around to face him. "Did you find the clown?"

"Chey –"

"You can tell me Jax."

"We took care of it, Chey," he tells her as it's the only thing he is able to say. The only thing he is capable of telling her right now. Because telling her the truth would mean telling her about his doubts about Clay and the club and his dad's manuscript when he isn't too sure how he feels about it himself.

He can tell even the dark that she wants to press more on the matter, but she doesn't. Instead she buries herself into his side and presses a kiss to his chest while he cups her belly.

…

Agent June Stahl wonders how she has managed to get herself sent to Bumblefuck, USA. She is still debating if this is a bullshit assignment, but this Deputy Jacob Hale did provide a nice little dossier about a small little outlaw club called the Sons of Anarchy. She snorted when she discovered their emblem was a Reaper.

However, she has learned great things come in small packages and these little Brandy Bunch bikers were apparently in league with the True IRA.

She knows what nabbing the True IRA could do for her career. Nabbing them would get her a whole goddamn building erected after her, but she isn't stupid and these bikers aren't either as they would've been caught already. And they could've slipped by on the radar if it wasn't for Mr. Captain America here finding a body connected to Blue Bird operations in Charming. She can admit she is impressed that Deputy Hale seems to respect his badge that he hasn't used the loopholes of the law to manipulate them to cleanse the town of the corruption that comes from this club. But at the same time she thinks it makes him an idiot, she has learned the hard way that sometimes you need to get dirty in the trenches and lie down with the dogs you want to get rid of.

Besides a warehouse depot blowing up, the most she can do is charge for the intent to sell or possession, she knows no matter how hard she presses none of them will rat out their connection to the IRA. She knows she will need to dig deeper.

But right now her main concern is trying to find a fucking Starbucks.


	15. Assurances

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Hope you guys enjoy this update! I will admit that I didn't really check over the chapter as I should have. Please forgive me! As always thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites!

until then.

* * *

Cheyenne wakes up alone in bed. Moving her hand next to her, the sheets are even cold. Sitting up she frowns and realizes Jax must have left early in the morning to head to the clubhouse. Sighing, she gets out of bed to alieve her bladder and brushes her teeth and is about to head into the kitchen when from the corner of her eyes she sees movement in the baby's room. She jumps when she realizes it's a person, but her heartbeat calms when she realizes its Jax putting some finishing to the room.

"Hey, what are you still doing here?" She questions.

Jax looks at her with a tried smile. "Needed the day off."

Cheyenne nods her head and enters the room. She stands in front of him and cups his face. She wonders if this is from what happened last night with the clown. She knows that they probably killed him. She knows that she should be concerned they killed him instead of letting the authorities handle it. "Is everything okay?"

A smile tugs the corner of his lips and his hands find her waist. "I'm fine, babe, really."

She doesn't believe him and she doesn't press especially since she has things she is not telling him. "You want some breakfast?"

She almost regrets asking that questions as he shoots her a wolfish grin. "Depends what you're serving?"

She rolls her eyes. "Muffins aren't on the menu."

Jax laughs and presses a kiss to her lips. "Whatever you make is fine with me, babe."

…

Lip wipes the sweat off his forehead as he leans against Nina's small Honda. With her officially out of the hospital, she's leaving to go to rehab. And he thought the least he could do was help her pack her things. It's been awkward between them and he thinks this is the longest any of them have been all together in five years.

And it's honestly sad. There isn't any other word for it except sad. Even more because despite Nina's problems and knowing he could've been more cruel and restrictive in regards to her access to Isla, she never made the effort for their daughter. And him and her is something he isn't going to try to dissect outside of trying to remember the girl he ounce held feelings for.

Even more, Lip thinks he just has learned the difference between love and lust.

He knows that he loved her once, but it wasn't the love for someone he envisioned Clay and Gemma had, hell even his parents. And even more and disgustingly the love he could see blooming between his sister and Jax.

The only love he has for his ex-wife is for their daughter. He wants her to get better – be better – for this perfect girl they created. But even now as she packs up her things and will no doubt make more promises about getting clean, he knows he has a better chance of winning the lottery. And he finds himself not angry about it.

He thinks after ten years and experiencing denial, anger, bargaining, and hell even a bit of depression, now he has finally reached acceptance. He knows that as long as she is alive he'll be dealing with her problems. She'll always be in his life because of Isla and now he has accepted that.

Besides, he knew who Nina was when they were younger. He also knows that he played a role in how bad her addiction got. He knows that instead of being angry and bitter about what in his eyes he thought it was weak and pathetic, he could've helped her more. He could've been more supportive. After all, she had always used drugs recreationally, but she knew when to stop and what her limit was, but then they had Isla and he found himself going deeper in the club. He didn't shy away from the fact he was fucking women that weren't her. He knows he wasn't that great of an old man as he just saw her as someone who was there for him to come home to and fuck while she took care of the house and kid. He treated her like shit and she gave it back to him.

"Hey, Lip, can I talk to you?"

Lip blinks as Nina appears in front of him. Since her release from the hospital, she has regained some color back in her skin, but he thinks she would look better if she would get rid of the blonde and go back to being brunette completely.

He nods his head and turns to find Isla standing by the taxi cab with a worried expression.

Nina gives him a small nervous smile before she runs her hands through her hair. "I signed all the papers, so now you're free of me. I'm sorry about before at the mediation…I was just being a bitch."

"It's fine. We never did make anything easy for each other." Lip tells her.

"I know, but I won't make any promises this time," she tells him.

"Nina –"

She shakes her head and he can see the tremble of her body as she tries to remain strong, "I don't want you guys to hate me anymore and I don't want my last words to be an empty promise."

"Just get better, Nina."

She looks like she is going to say something else, but decides against it. Instead, he watches as she slips off the silver petite band she had kept on her finger for 10 years.

"Nina, you can keep that."

She clenches the ring in her palm, but shakes her head. "I think I want Isla to have it. I want her too. I know it's probably like a shitty bad luck thing. I just want her to have this. It's the only thing I can give her."

Lip frowns, but accepts the piece of jewelry that he had bought without a second glance. It was cheap and she seemed to like the simple piece of silver.

"Can I…can I just…just say that I love you. I know you –"

"It's alright, Nina. It's okay," he tells her as he brings her into a hug. After all he loved her once. It may have not been intense burning passion, but he loved her.

"Can you just lie to me once, Lip?"

Lip knows he shouldn't. He knows that they shouldn't be doing this in front of Isla. Instead, he hugs her tighter and goddamn he thinks he can feel his chest tightening and his eyes becoming blurry. "I love you, Nina." He tells her hoarsely and for some reason it doesn't feel like a lie.

"So what happens now?" Isla asks as they sit in his truck and watch the taxi cab holding Nina drive away to the rehab.

Lip looks over to his 9 year old daughter and finds it bemusing that his daughter is asking this of him. But he knows that it's always been like this. Him and his daughter were a team. He thinks she is growing up way to fucking fast.

"Well I think lunch sounds good."

Isla sighs from her seat as she clips on her seat belt. "I like Fawn, Dad." Lip's eyes almost bulge out of his head. "I know you like her too."

"Jesus," he mutters as he swipes a hand down his face. "You've been talking to Gemma?"

She rolls her eyes at him. "No, Dad. I just have a pair of eyes."

"Right," he replies.

"I like her."

"I sense a _but_."

"Dad, if you were serious about you, you would be together already."

…

"Are you asking me on a date?" Cheyenne asks in disbelief. She turns around as she dries her hands with her dish towel and looks at Jax confused.

After a satisfying breakfast, Jax had taken her back surprise with his offer of just spending the day together between the two of them. Cheyenne didn't think Jax was a go on date's type of guy unless it was taking them back to his dorm room. And if memory serves her correctly the only dates he took Tara on were when they won't get locked up for indecent exposure or public disturbance.

She walks over to Jax and places a hand on his forehead. "Are you sick?"

"No, I'm not sick," Jax says as he rolls his eyes, but pulls her into his lap. "I'm being serious."

Cheyenne looks into his eyes and she has a feeling in her gut that he is only using her as a distraction from something. She wants to ask him until he caves and tells her, but maybe it's not her place. Maybe she needs to let herself be the distraction he seems to desperately need as he seems to be avoiding the clubhouse.

"Okay," she agrees.

He flashes a blinding smile and she isn't surprised when his hands latch onto her thighs exposed in short plaid sleeping shorts. He doesn't even hide how he is ogling her breasts in the thin cami she wore to bed. She isn't even embarrassed when the feeling of his hungry gaze makes her nipples tighten in anticipation.

And she knows he knows what's he is doing to her as his hands stay on her thighs and his thumbs rub on her skin in a circle.

As she looks at him, she wonders when the fuck this happened.

When she was younger, she prided herself on being one of the few women that didn't spontaneously combust if Jax would throw a smile her way. She, of course, appreciated the sight of Jax, but she never felt that way towards him even when he had kissed her for the first time on that street when she was on the cusp of 17.

With that first kiss, it still felt platonic.

Then she had entered her first relationship with Mason. God, he was everything she should've wanted out of a boyfriend – man. However, it never felt right. And then she remembers after Jax had shown a clear expression of jealously of her having a boyfriend, she reveled in it. She didn't know why, but her feelings for him became tangled when she found herself thinking about Jax when she was with Mason when she knows she shouldn't have been.

Then Wahewa.

She knows no matter what she can't blame the alcohol for what happened. She knows that she doesn't regret it ever. It's just she didn't expect something from almost 10 years ago to land her here with him.

"What are you thinking about?" Jax asks her.

"You."

He smiles at her and sits up straighter and places a kiss on her neck, which causes her to shiver, as his hands work their way up and his fingers dip underneath her shorts. Her stomach coils in anticipation. But then his hands jump up to caress her stomach – her bump – where there child is encase. Their child that they created – a tiny piece of him and her. It scares her to think that they're about to become parents. They will be raising a child together.

He pulls her closer to him, leaving no room between them. Their chest to chest and breathing each other's air.

There is something brewing in his eyes. She can see that he is struggling to hide it away from her. She knows it has to do with whatever happened when they handled the clown from Fun Town. Before she can question it, he presses the sweetest kiss to her lips before he descends down to her throat and chest.

He pulls back as he runs his hand down her body while the other cups her cheek, "God, you're beautiful."

The dark hunger in his eyes makes her shiver and she pulls back enough just to slip the spaghetti straps of her shirt off her shoulders and arms revealing her breasts.

They are reduced to skin on skin in a frenzied heartbeat. Their hips rocking together in a perfect rhythm, guided by Jax's grip on her hips while she feels the burn in her legs as she bounces up and down as she grips the back on the kitchen chair.

Cheyenne is edging towards becoming a boneless piling of sensation as she pants harshly against his lips.

Jax's hand slips between their slick bodies to find that spot that he knows will take her over the edge.

Jax knows that he is a lucky son of a bitch to have Cheyenne, of all women, in his lap chanting his name in a breathy desperate way. He knows that Cheyenne could have anybody she wanted, but instead she is here with him carrying his goddamn _son_.

As the pad of his thumb finds that sweet spot, he watches as she close to falling from the edge. Her head falls back to her shoulders as she pants his name begging. A sad whimper comes next when he pulls his hand away suddenly causing a pout to form on her sinful lips.

He doesn't say anything as he grips her hips and brings them back to an intoxicating rhythm. This time she's watching him with a burning look that holds him captive. Her grey eyes drowning in darkness as he feels her muscles tighten and her breathing becoming harsher.

He slips his hand back between them and then she crashes.

A burning ecstasy floods her body as she cries out his name and her hand clutch his neck and he feels the sting of her fingernails dig into his skin. She clings to him as she comes in waves, grinding erratically against him.

He pushes her harder against him as he gives into his own release, "Fuck Cheyenne."

Exhausted and completely spent, Cheyenne collapses on him. He wraps his arms around her, holding their slick bodies, and he presses a kiss against her forehead.

As he feels her small bump against his stomach, Jax is flooded with his anger with Clay from last night. He knows that the path the club is taking isn't a good or safe one. He knows that he doesn't want his son to know this jaded lifestyle.

Jax knows that he is going to have to change the club. It's not just an idea or his father's lost words.

It's the future.

It's his responsibility.

…

After dropping off Isla to hang with Neeta, Lip finds his way to the garage to actually do honest man's work. Besides, he finds that he could use the distraction. Despite being an outlaw biker, Lip is the best mechanic at Teller Morrow behind Clay. After all the man taught him everything he knows. Besides, with him clocked in, he knows Gemma will appreciate work actually getting done.

However, he thinks his distraction free day will not go as smoothly as he wants when he spots Tig looking conflicted in the garage as he stares at the window that gives an open view of the office. Following his Sergeants at Arms line of sight, he spots Fawn hunched over the desk.

 _Just fucking great_ , Lip thinks.

Despite Fawn taking the time to hang with Isla, the two of them were still on murky water and for once he was relieved about it. Isla's words were ringing in his head and he thinks his daughter may have had a point. He loves Fawn. He thinks he loves her the way he should've loved Nina, but he isn't quite sure he would ever be happy with her. And as his eyes look over to Tig's, he knows why.

With Nina, she had embraced the club and it made his life fucking easy with not hiding who he was or having to apologize for it, but she was just a shitty wife. Fawn was a great partner and he could have an actual conversation with her, but she fucking hated the club.

For that reason alone was why he was always hesitant about approaching Tig about their relationship. It wasn't as if he was holding out for him and Nina to suddenly because something. It was because he knew Fawn could never really accept who he was. He knows the club would eventually drive a wedge between them. Despite Fawn and her bullshit about him using her, she was the one that couldn't figure out what the fuck she wanted and it pinpointed back to her father.

Sometimes Lip wondered how in the hell Tig let alone got married, but had kids. Tig was a certain breed of man he never quite understood. Tig was fucking crazy, but loyal to the club, which was why his kids currently hated him as much as they loved him.

Growing up, Tig was very vocal about how fucking crazy Colleen was with her nagging him all the time. And Lip did get to witness a few fights that turned physical from Colleen's end. He wasn't too sure on how Colleen and Tig met let alone have kids together, but they did.

And Colleen somehow put up with Tig's shit until Fawn was 8 and Dawn was 5. Despite her hatred for Tig, she kept the girls close despite Tig getting deeper in the club and putting brotherhood for fatherhood.

And everyone thought once Fawn would turn 18 she would hightail it out of Charming like her mother intended, but she stayed.

Lip watched as the girl tried to work through her conflicted feelings when it came to her family, but he knows her heart and head were going in the opposite directions.

Lip can say he never really thought of Fawn in any way until they began their fucked up relationship. Despite her being best friend's with his sister, he never paid attention to her. Why would he when he had Nina?

But then he finally had enough of Nina's shit and he needed some help with Isla and she stepped in. He got to know her, they became friends, and then more, but they were doomed from the start. He knows they will never work. He thinks it should hurt him more to come to that realization, but even if she somehow becomes right with the club and her dad, he wouldn't want to turn her into Nina or even Gemma.

However, as activity in the shop speeds up, and mechanics and brothers clock in, he notices one particular person is absent.

"Yo, Bobby, have you seen Jax?" Lip asks as rotates some tires.

"Think the boy is taking the day off. Spending it with Em."

Lip raises an eyebrow at that and it's on the tip of his tongue that his VP is becoming pussy whipped, but thinking about pussy and his sister in the same sentence makes him nauseous. However, considering the shit that went down last night with the clown and Jax's apparent anger over Clay's move to keep Charming contained, he senses something is shifting within Jax.

Lip moves next to Bobby, the power drills drowning out their conversation, "What do you think about last night?"

Bobby purses his lips. "Jax made a point about Clay taking things into his own hands, but at the same time, Clay earned that right to do what's best for the club."

Lip snorts and thinks blackmailing one of the most influential men in Charming isn't exactly the best for the club.

Bobby quirks a brow at him, "What do you think about last night?"

"I think if we want to maintain relationships, there are other ways than blackmail."

"So you agree with Jax?"

Lip shrugs his shoulders. "I think it's bad for the club if our Prez and VP can't get along."

…

Cheyenne shouldn't have been surprised when Jax took her out to the streams. It was one of the go to place for couples. A bit cheesy, but undeniably Charming.

Cheyenne is soaking in the sun, her head rests on Jax's stomach, as he is propped up on some pillows they brought watching the scenery. His hand rests on her small bump and she smiles as it seems Jax can never take his hands off it.

Yet, her eyes catch sight of the rings that adorn his hands. Those same hands that caress her belly and will eventually hold their son are the same ones that are capable of many violent things. She knows that she would never intentionally hold those things against Jax especially between them. After all, she remembers at 15 finding him throwing up after he committed his first kill for the club. But then and like right now, it was just her having to deal with this knowledge.

Who Jax is and what he does isn't just going to affect him anymore. Now it will affect their small family.

"Jax," Cheyenne starts softly. "Where will this go? Like after the baby is born, what does this mean for us?"

Jax's hand tightens on her stomach just a fraction. "Where do you want this to go?"

Cheyenne leans up and Jax takes his hand away from her stomach. She nibbles on her lip and she doesn't want to ruin the peaceful mood, but she also knows that can't delay a conversation like this especially after last night. After what the club did do that clown. "I can never just be an Old Lady, Jax."

Jax's blue eyes lock on her grey ones. "I know that." He tells her. "I would never ask you to stay home mom or wife or anything unless you wanted that." He adds with a tinge of pink to his cheeks.

Cheyenne nods her head trying not to be thrown off at Jax possibly even thinking about marriage. "That's not what I mean though."

Jax sits up straighter as he waits for her to continue.

"I'm not…I'll try not too ask you to change because I know the club is like infused into every fiber of your being. It's a part of who you are. It's just I know there will come a time where I won't agree with you on things –" Cheyenne sighs as she doesn't feel as if she is making much sense. "I'm loyal to you, Jax, not the club. I'm just worried about what it means to be with you as a mother." Cheyenne worries that one day it might come down to Jax and her child.

Jax sits up straighter and he knows it's now or never to reveal his plans to change the club. His vision for their son, "Do you remember my dad?"

Cheyenne is taken back by that question. "Yeah?"

"No, I mean really remember him that last few months before he died." Jax clarifies.

Cheyenne shakes her head. "Not really, Jax. I just remember him being sad or buried in a book. Why?"

"I found something in storage that he wrote. It was about his original vision for the club."

"You mean outside of gun running?"

Jax nods his head. "He wanted out of it."

"And that's what you want?"

"I love this club, Chey, but I have to think about our son." He tells her. "I have you to think about."

"Well I should feel lucky." Cheyenne says with a giggle.

"Nah, darlin', I'm the lucky one." He tells her as he flashes a smile.

…

After a short nap, Jax and Cheyenne head home and both are surprised when they find Lip outside the place inspecting a rather large bouquet of flowers.

"Must be serious," Cheyenne says to Jax.

Jax keeps quiet as he exits the car.

Cheyenne greets her brother with a kiss and he gives him a nod.

"Everyone okay?" Jax asks as he looks from Lip to the flowers.

"Just thought I should stop by. You weren't at the garage." Lip says. "But these aren't for me. They were sitting on the steps. They're for Chey."

Jax looks at Cheyenne, who furrows her brow at the extravagant arrangement of white and pink roses. She walks over and picks up the apparent gift before turning back to look at him and Lip. "Well I'll let you boys talk shop."

Jax motions for Lip to follow him into the garage that it still filled with his boxes, but the fridge with it stocked to the brim with beer is already set up. He grabs one for him and Lip and the two men settle against the workbench.

"What you and Chey do today?" Lip starts.

"Took her to the streams," Jax tells him.

"Looks like you should've started on this garage," Lip points out as he peers inside a box.

"I've got time." Jax tells him as he opens his beer. "But I know you're not here to talk about my cleaning abilities."

Lip's lip quirk up at that, "I guess you're right. I'm more worried about your abilities as VP."

Jax is taken back by that and his spine stiffens. Before Jax can question Lip, his brother continues, "I know you were upset about Clay's call about how he handled Oswald, but I feel like there is something else. I also know about you bringing up not rebuilding the gun warehouse."

"I'm just thinking long term."

"I get that, but we can't just stop running guns."

"Why because you like the money too much?" Jax counters.

"No because Clay, Tig, and the guys like the money too much."

"Do you like the money?"

"Hell man, I'm not complaining and Isla is set up for life." Lip tells him before taking a large sip of his beer. "But it would be nice not to have worry about doing 25 to life."

"It's just an idea," Jax assures him.

"It's not a bad one." Lip tells him. "Is this from Chey and the baby?"

Jax shrugs his shoulders because it's a part of it. A very big part.

"Family life already changing you." Lip says with a smile.

Jax snorts. "I don't know about that. It still doesn't seem real. But I gotta start thinking about the kid and the life I want for him." He adds.

"You know if you ever need to bounce something off me, you can, because now this shit you do affects my sister."

"I know and you know I would never let anything happen to her."

Lip doesn't say anything but nods his head as he finishes the rest of his beer. "I guess I should say bye to my sister and let you guys get back to this date day of yours."

Jax flashes him a grim, which makes Lip gag, and they head into the house.

They find Cheyenne in the kitchen and both men look at the large bouquet of flowers sitting in the garbage can.

"What's wrong with the flowers?" Jax asks.

"I don't really like roses." She tells them.

Jax doesn't question it.

He knew Charming was going to be small, but he didn't expect it to be this small. It's almost could be an Amish community's wet dream if it wasn't for the electricity that ran through the place. Parking his rental vehicle into the St. Thomas parking lot, he can tell that this hospital, which is one of the main employers, is probably the only thing that is consistently updated despite the town still living in the 1960s with all the mom and pop businesses.

So he shouldn't have been surprised to find Margaret Murphy standing outside the sliding doors ready to greet him.

He remembers vaguely delivering one of her kids and honestly he found the women to be kind of boring. Yet, he thinks that might have been a product of the rarely known fact of her being a junkie old lady getting a moral jolt. He still recalls shock at seeing shut a loud display on her back for some ill fated lover.

But he rids himself of those thoughts and produces one of his manufactured smiles and heads to the entrance.

"Dr. Richards, it's so good to see you again. I can't tell you how much it means to the hospital to have you volunteer your time and service."

Calvin brushes her off, "It's fine. Besides, I think I could use a break from the constant hustle and bustle of a busy hospital."

"Well you won't be disappointed then." Margaret tells him as she leads him inside to begin his grand tour.

Calvin thinks he can almost see the appeal of Cheyenne coming back home to work at this hospital. Despite its small size they did have a prodigious staff on hand. A few of them he remembers reading and keeping a few of the pieces they wrote for medical journals. But as Margaret tries to keep his attention, his eyes are scanning for one person who he has yet to see.

"Is Cheyenne on rotation today?"

"I'm afraid not," Margaret informs. "Actually we're going to have to reduce her hours despite her objections, but doctor's orders prevail."

"Is everything okay?" Calvin asks worried. The Cheyenne he knows was the girl who would live at the hospital for four days straight before having to physical push her out of the hospital.

"Oh you don't know, Cheyenne is pregnant, a few months along."

Calvin could have fainted.


	16. Patch Over

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** More of a filler chapter, but I hope you still enjoy it!

* * *

"Hey."

Cheyenne looks up from some paperwork at the nurses' station and her brows furrow in confusion as Jax stands before her. "Is everything okay?" She asks as she stuffs her hands in her lab coat. She has only been at work for two hours and everything seemed fine when the two departed from each other.

"Can I talk to you in private real quick?" Jax questions.

She nods her head and leads him into a deserted waiting room. "What's going on?"

Jax stuffs his hands in his pocket and gives her a small smile. "I have to head to Nevada."

"Okay," Cheyenne says confused on why he couldn't tell her that at the desk. She folds her arms across her chest, "Can I ask why?"

Jax purses his lips, "ATF is in town and we need to store our guns somewhere."

"Should I be worried?" Cheyenne asks.

Jax shakes his head. He smiles. "It's just Hale being Hale."

"How long will you be gone?"

"A day at most." He promises.

Cheyenne nods her head and she captures her bottom lip between her teeth. A day isn't long at all, but she realizes this is technically her first run she will experience with Jax and that leaves a knot in her stomach. She blames the pregnancy for this.

"Hey, you okay with this?" Jax asks concerned.

Cheyenne rubs her forehead and sighs, "Can you not like sleep with anyone while on runs."

She can tell Jax is taken back by this and he doesn't respond. Instead he leans forward and presses a soft gentle kiss to her lips. He goes to pull away, but she is leaning for more, which causes him to smile against her lips as he presses another one to her lips. "There will be more when I come back," he promises.

He gives her a smile before he bends down and presses a kiss to her stomach causing her to laugh before replacing his lips with his hand.

…

Cheyenne is in the middle of updating a patient's file when she is paged to Margaret Murphy's office. Since her run in with Margaret when she and Jax were leaving her doctor's appointment, Cheyenne did her best to try and steer clear of Margaret. It wasn't as if she disliked the hospital administrator. She had no problem with her. But Margaret couldn't hide her clear distaste of who she associated with outside of work and Cheyenne decided she didn't need that stress in her life. So she didn't understand why she was being called in the office. Her appointments have been going smooth. She hasn't had any confrontations with anyone. So she has no idea what this could be about.

She knocks on the door to the redhead's office where she is beckoned to come in. She has a neutral pleasant smile on her face as she walks through the door, but luckily she was holding onto the doorknob as she would've collapsed as she caught sight of the other person in the room.

She almost thinks she is dreaming or maybe hallucinating because this couldn't be some twisted joke. She had left the life she had been building for herself because of him. She had returned back to Charming because of him.

"Cheyenne, it's so good to see you," Calvin Richards greet with a bright smile and she almost throws up as she engulfs her in a hug. The smell of his cologne is nauseating to her belly and she resists the urge to cry and scream. She is flooded with memories she tries to block from their last encounter. She fights the urge to stab him in the middle of this office. Margaret is oblivious to her discomfort.

As he pulls away, Cheyenne immediately makes distance between them and closer to Margaret.

"What's going on?" She asks.

"Dr. Richards has expressed interest in volunteering here at St. Thomas while doing research for his sabbatical. He's looking into health care for smaller towns compared to bigger ones." Margaret explains.

"I remember you stating you were from Charming and it was small and sometimes backwards so I thought it would be a good starting place," Calvin adds.

"Really?" Cheyenne asks skeptically. "And you're here by yourself?"

"Well you of all people know I don't have assistants. That's just laziness." Calvin says and apparently Margaret finds it funny as they both laugh.

"How long are you going to be here for?"

Calvin looks at her with a frown. "What's with all these questions? It sounds like I'm in an interrogation."

"Forgive me, it's just I know how busy you were. I didn't know you had time to do a medical road trip." Cheyenne doesn't hide the bite in her tone and Margaret notices.

The redhead steps closer as her smile dims."Cheyenne, is everything alright?"

Cheyenne sighs as she almost forgot how easily Calvin was able to sweep people up into his bullshit. "Actually my stomach is turning. May I be excused?"

She doesn't wait for a response as she rushes out of the office and into the nearest bathroom. She launches herself into the nearest stall. She leans against the door as she tries to fight the sobs that threaten to escape her throat. She should've known after the flowers he would manage to wiggle his way to Charming. She should've known.

And now she doesn't know what the fuck to do.

…

Despite reconnecting with Uncle Jury, Jax doesn't particularly care about going to Nevada. But damn he cannot deny how nice it was to ride down even with the Mayans spotting them early on in the trip. He doesn't know why he deluded himself into thinking this would be a simple trip about securing safe storage for their guns until the warehouse was rebuilt.

He understands that Jury needs protection with the Mayans trying to run a vig. Jax is all for providing assistance, but it didn't feel right that Clay _again_ made an executive decision to patch in a bunch of bouncers and bookkeepers.

There was nothing wrong with not being an outlaw club. Hell, Jury seems to be doing fine without the added weight of dodging Feds and bullets. If anything Jax was thinking money was in pussy than guns. So he didn't see the added benefit of making the Tribe SOA. It wasn't as if they were a big club to begin with and he was sure that when the Patch Over happened they would lose numbers and probably even more if something popped off with the Mayans.

He didn't see the short or long term benefit of this outside of the SONS having another charter.

His thoughts are interrupted by Bobby, who comes out limping a little; it seemed Daytona 1200 lived up to her name.

"Pull a muscle?" Jax teases.

"I think more than that," Bobby says as he laughs and pulls a joint out from behind his ear and sits next to him. "You and Jury get into it?"

"Yeah." Jax confirms. "He didn't see it comin'."

"Hmm."

"I don't know if the old man's gonna be able to hang a reaper on his back." Jax confesses. "This shit don't feel good to me, Bobby. Clay's making a mistake. The Tribe ain't SOA Material." Jax states. He knows if there is anyone he can talk to right now it would be Bobby.

Outside of being the club's secretary, their even tempered Bobby Elvis was the voice of reason to the club. He was always able to see things from the blind spots most of the men had. If he wants the cold hard truth about things his best bet is to go to Bobby with them even when he knows it isn't going to be what he wanted to hear. Jax also knows that what he says will stay between the two of them.

"You all right, brother?" Bobby asks which throws him off slightly.

"Yeah. Why?" Jax asks confused. For a minute, Jax thinks Lip and Bobby must be having some little chats.

"Just checkin' in. You're going through some pretty significant changes. Impending fatherhood got yourself an old lady. Maybe all that has gotten you turned around a bit."

Jax scrunches his nose up and scowls. "You got something to say, man, just say it."

Bobby lights his joint and gives it to him straight, "You've been second-guessing Clay ever since you got hit with the news of you becoming a daddy. Club's pickin' up on it. You gotta get right with that."

…

Cheyenne found herself looking over her shoulder every two seconds after what happened in Margaret's office. She didn't know how she was going to be able to work efficiently knowing the Calvin lurked behind a corner. Her only comfort was Charming was so small and people were nosey that nothing happened in vacuum. Most of all she had her brother here in Charming and then there was Jax, but she couldn't even imagine telling Jax or her brother this.

She was under no illusion about the men in her life. She knows as soon as she tells either of them this, if she does decide that, both would have no problem in ending this man's life. In fact, she thinks the two would argue over who would get the kill shot.

If anything she knows that stress isn't good for her baby and maybe now she will be glad that she is getting her hours cut because now she won't have to be anywhere near this man.

She is walking in the parking lot to her car when she freezes. Calvin is seemingly waiting for her at one of the various park benches that liter the parking lot. She knows there is no way out of the confrontation and is glad there are cameras located in the parking lot.

She brings her keys between her knuckles and walks over to her car and ignores his presence, but before she even manages to reach halfway Calvin approaches.

"Chey?" He calls out quietly.

Cheyenne looks up at him and she wonders how someone so brilliant is this much of a creep and sicko.

"How can I help you, Dr. Richards?" She asks tightly. Her body is coiled for any type of attack.

"I just want to talk to you."

"There's nothing to talk about," she insists.

"I just want to apologize –"

Cheyenne scoffs. "Apologize…you tried to –" the words die on her tongue as she can't bring herself to say it. "You're lucky I didn't report you."

"And I'm grateful, I am, it's just I thought you…I misread the signs and I'm sorry my behavior…was appalling I'm ashamed for myself."

"How is saying _no_ misreading any sign?" Cheyenne asks with a clenched jaw. "You…you need to stay away from me."

"Or what?" Ice slides down Cheyenne's spine because now she can see that monster he keeps tightly locked inside him. Her grip tightens on her keys. "You'll have that outlaw biker baby daddy of yours kill me? Or your brother?"

"No," Cheyenne says shaking her head. "I'll kill you myself."

…

Cheyenne rushes back home and locks the door even putting the bolt on. When Jax had noticed her locking the door, he had commented it that no one in Charming would ever try to enter their home, at the time, she agreed with that mentality, and only did the door lock. However, with him a state away, and the very reason she had checked all her windows and every nook and cranny, she turned the bolt on.

Calvin did send her those flowers indicating he knew her address.

Besides Charming was small and with the way Margaret couldn't contain her excitement and knowing how Calvin probably couldn't wait to tell people about their connection, she knows a can of worms will be opened.

She knows that keeping this from Jax and her brother will no longer be an option.

…

She is in the middle rummaging her cabinets for something to eat when a knock comes at the door causing her to drop a box of macaroni noodles onto the floor. Luckily, the box didn't break.

She walks over to the window in the kitchen that overlooks the front yard that includes the driveway and she exhales a deep breath as she only sees her brother's bike out front.

She walks over to the door and opens it and plasters a smile on her face and sees that Isla is with him. "Hey, what's going on?"

Lip gives her a small smile. "Mandatory run to Nevada. Was hoping Isla could spend the night with you."

Cheyenne nods her head as Isla gives her a hug and a smile before heading into the house and making herself comfortable.

Cheyenne folds her arms across her chest as she looks at her brother. "Is everything okay?" She asks as thinking on it she hasn't heard from Jax since he dropped by at the hospital to inform her of this impromptu run. She tries not to dwell on his silence.

"It's nothing but a patch over. Have to welcome the new brothers." Lip informs her with a shrug.

"Okay."

Lip steps forward and gives his little sister a hug, "Thanks, sis."

With Isla over, Cheyenne forgoes in cooking and decides to order pizza. Isla has no objections. The two Henderson girls then find themselves in their pajamas in the living room eating dinner and watching pointless TV.

Cheyenne realizes she hasn't really talked to her niece since Lip and her had sent Nina off to rehab. And she hopes her niece doesn't feel neglected considering now that Cheyenne is balancing impending motherhood, a blossoming relationship, and a career.

"Have you talked to your mom since she left?" Cheyenne asks.

"She calls about once a week. Seems to be doing good, but this isn't the first time she's been to rehab." Isla tells her.

Cheyenne frowns that her niece is already this pessimistic about her mother's own sobriety. Cheyenne wonders if it is because of Lip's own attitude towards Nina at this point or if her niece really has come to terms about the struggles of an addict and words filled with empty promises. "Does she have plans to return to Charming?"

Isla snorts. "I hope not."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Obviously she isn't happy here and it's easy for her to fall back into old habits, she should stay clear." Isla explains.

Cheyenne opens her mouth to ask another question but Isla interrupts her. "I'm fine, really. I would prefer for her to be out of our lives happy and healthy instead of struggling to stay clean because she wants to be here with me."

"Okay," Cheyenne says and they both silently agree this will be the last time they speak on the matter.

"So have you and Jax thought of baby names?" Isla asks.

"Umm actually not really. I was thinking I would just look at him and go with the name that pops into my head." Cheyenne tells hers.

"Well I actually have a list of names." Isla stands up and heads to guest bedroom. She comes back in a minute later with a piece of paper.

Cheyenne smiles. "Doing research I see."

She takes the piece of paper and looks at the rather extensive list of names. Cheyenne raises an eyebrow.

"I'm bored okay." Isla explains.

Cheyenne laughs. There are the usual names of the men in their lives from Jackson, Phillip, John, and Thomas. Then there was Xavier, Charlie, Stephen, and Caiden. However, the last name on the list captures her attention.

Cheyenne points out to it on the paper. "Where you find this name at?"

"In Art, we were looking at the painting of him and his brother. The name stuck with me and I looked up the meaning. It means son."

"Abel Teller," Cheyenne says softly.

"Has a nice ring to it." Isla says.

…

Lip stretches his legs after the 3 hour ride to Indian Hills. Lip finds himself pretty annoyed about having to attend some impromptu patch over. Despite his love for Jury and his nice stable of girls, he really didn't think this crew was exactly outlaw material. He didn't see the advantage. Sure Indian Hills got some protection from the vig the Mayans were trying to push, but then it made them even more of a target considering the small charter was about to probably get smaller and vulnerable as men wouldn't want to live their outlaw ways.

Slipping off his helmet, he follows Happy inside of the clubhouse and he can already see that the mood is tense as more Sons fill the smoky room. Lip greets some of his brothers and even throws a few flirty smiles at some sweetbutts. He heads to the bar to grab a beer, but stops in his tracks as he finds his VP practically sulking in the corner batting away an eager croweater.

Jax and the croweater see him approaching and Lip motions for the young girl to beat it as he sits across from his VP. "She wasn't pretty enough for you?" Lip teases.

Jax rolls his eyes. "Actually she wasn't."

"Seems my sister got you on lockdown."

"If that is what you want to call it." Jax drawls.

"You should go and call her and have some phone sex. Maybe it will get rid of that pissy look on your face." Lip says.

"Is there a reason you're over here?" Jax asks testily, which Lip interprets he is hitting a nerve.

"Yeah, to bug the shit out of you, but to also figure out why in the hell I had to drive down here." Lip tells him.

"I don't know man. I don't think right now is the best time to be patching over a club." Jax tells him.

"Especially with ATF in town." Lip adds. "Jury isn't outlaw."

"I know." Jax agrees. "How was the ride down?"

"Fine."

"Where's Isla?"

"Dropped her off with Chey."

Jax nods his head, but then winces. "Shit, I haven't called her."

Lip smiles. "You're so fucking whipped man."

Jax throws the cap from his beer bottle at him. "Shut the fuck up."

"My sis know about the ATF being in town?"

"I mentioned it." Jax tells him as he levels him with a look and Lip immediately backs off the inquiry as now his sister is Jax's _old lady_.

"So have you and Chey thought about baby names? I think Phillip would be a wonderful name for a boy," Lip says as he throws Jax a wide smile.

Jax rolls his eyes.

…

Jax wasn't really surprised with how the trip to Nevada ended. After all, Nevada had a high population of Mayans and currently the Sons were #1 in the enemy list. So the shootout was practically expected. But what's done is done.

After making sure Jury was okay after being shot and that Indian Hills would be able to handle this new heat that the gun protection would entail Jax and Lip were the first ones to high tail it out of Indian Hills. Although they don't arrive to Charming until late in the night.

After making a quick pit stop so Lip could grab his truck, Jax follows his brother back to his house. Lip grabs Isla, who is sleeping, and carries her to his truck while Jax beelines it to his bedroom.

Jax smiles at the sight of Cheyenne sleeping peacefully curled into a ball on her side of the bed.

He slips out of his clothes down to his boxers and slides into the bed behind her. He pulls her into his arms and she wakes a little as he spots the smile that curves her lips. He presses a kiss to her cheek and shoulder and thinks there is no place he would rather be.


	17. AK-51

"What are you doing?" Cheyenne asks with a laugh as she looks down.

Jax Teller is sprawled between her legs with both hands on her growing baby bump as he whispers things to their son.

"Hey, it's daddy and me time," Jax jokes before he kisses a spot on her belly.

Cheyenne feels a flurry of activity and she wishes that Jax could finally feel their son. She can tell that he is somewhat disappointed that he can't feel that yet. With her nearing 19 weeks, she knows pretty soon he will though.

And in moments like this, it's hard to reconcile that Jax this outlaw biker is so heavily involved with this pregnancy. It's hard coming to terms that they are parents and something more. And things have been so good between them, but she knows that it will soon turn sour.

With it being almost two weeks since Calvin has returned to Charming, Cheyenne hasn't told Jax about him. It wasn't as if she needed too in her eyes as the men mostly likely would ever cross paths and Calvin seemed to be keeping his distance from her.

Besides she knows that Jax is slightly stressed about ATF in their backyard. He has disclosed that they don't have anything, but they have to have something to make camp in Charming. All they need is something little to make a case. One thing can get the dominoes falling.

But she decides that right now that stress isn't good for her and her main focus is the baby growing in her belly. She runs her hands through Jax's growing hair as he continues his conversation with his son.

"Have you thought about names?" She asks him interrupting his promises to his son about letting him have his own Harley one day.

Jax looks up at her and shakes his head. "Not really. Have you?"

She shakes her head. "Isla had some names she thought were nice."

"Lip said we should name the kid after him."

Cheyenne snorts. "No way."

Jax smiles and he leans up and presses a kiss to her lips. But of course a kiss just can't be a kiss with them. Cheyenne's fingers find purchase in Jax's blonde hair as they both nip and suck before Jax's lips trail down to her jaw and neck. Jax leans further down the couch and takes her with him as her thighs splay open where he fits snuggly in.

Cheyenne makes work in getting his shirt off while Jax pulls off her yoga pants.

Pants off, Jax dives back to her lips while his hands dip beneath her shirt over her bump and up to her growing breasts, "Gentle," she reminds him against his lips as his cups her swollen breasts softly.

Cheyenne's hands trail down his body until she reaches his belt and she jumps startled when she feels against her thigh a gentle vibration.

Jax growls against her lips before he pulls back, hair mussed and eyes set in irritation as he digs into his pocket. She already knows she is going to be disappointed when his shoulders fall.

He looks at her with a sad smile. "I gotta go."

Cheyenne is only able to nod her head.

He leans down and presses a kiss against her lips in apology. "I promise I'll pay you back."

…

With Jax gone for the day, Cheyenne had called Fawn to see if she wanted to go window shopping for baby things. Despite the nursery slowing getting put together, all she and Jax really owned were the crib, some décor, and a dresser. They still needed clothes, toys, a high chair, and the diapers and wipes. And she is thinking that she and Jax will save a lot of money if she lets Gemma have her way and throw that dreaded baby shower.

So far the shopping trip is pleasant, Fawn is a big fan of the onesies with the little baby puns while Cheyenne finds herself being more of a fan of the ones with the little animals or the nice crisp clean outfits. Although Cheyenne has a feeling none of the clothes she will buy will be worn as she imagines Gemma has a lifetime supply of SAMCRO onesies for the baby to wear.

Despite being occupied with pregnancy and work, Cheyenne hasn't been ignorant to her best friend. Jax couldn't wait to inform her about Lip and Fawn being together at Fun Town in public. Yet, since then Cheyenne is sure the two haven't made any official declaration about their relationship or if there was even a relationship.

And she knows Fawn won't say anything.

After buying a bunch of clothes that her boy will probably outgrow before he even gets to wear any of it, the girls go to a local café to get lunch and Cheyenne decides now to confront her friend about her brother.

"So what's going on with you and Lip?"

Fawn tries to hide her shock at the question, but fails. She doesn't quite possess the poker face her dad seems to have.

"Nothing," she says a little too quickly to believe.

" _Fawn_."

The raven hair vixen sighs. "Nothing, okay. We've cooled down."

"So you admit that there was something." Cheyenne presses.

"Yeah, sure, but I probably fucked it all up." Fawn admits.

"What do you mean?"

"I hate my dad," Fawn states bluntly. "And the lifestyle that he put above his family and then here I am with something involved in the same thing. Not only that, Lip has all those ties with Nina…I just…everything is so complicated."

"Have you ever really tried talking to your dad?"

Fawn shakes her head. "But even then it wouldn't change anything with Lip. I can't be his old lady."

"There's nothing wrong with that." Cheyenne assures her.

"Your brother is a great guy when he doesn't have his head up his ass." Fawn tells her. "I just wanted it too work."

"You still can try."

Fawn purses her lips. "I could do that, but I'm sorry I can't. I know one day I will end up hating myself and Lip if we got together. I'm thinking about leaving Charming."

Cheyenne's eyes go wide. "What? Why?"

"There's nothing for me in this town. It's not for certain. It's just something I think needs to be done for me."

Cheyenne nods her head as she reaches across the table and grabs her friend's hand, "If this is what you want I'll support you."

Fawn gives her a grateful smile before her eyes narrow into slits. Cheyenne's spine stiffens.

"Don't look yet, but some man's been staring over here since we sat down. Good looking, brown hair," Fawn describes before she reaches into her purse. "Seems professional looking," she continues before she pulls out her small compact mirror and hands it to her. "He has money for sure," Fawn adds as she smiles back at Cheyenne and points to her face as if she is telling her something is wrong with her makeup.

Cheyenne holds up the mirror and in her gut she already knows who it is and she holds up the mirror and she finds Calvin cold eyes staring right at her.

Cheyenne snaps the compact mirror shut even surprising Fawn, who looks at her worried. "Do you know him?"

Cheyenne's grey eyes look up into her friend's blue ones. Cheyenne opens her mouth, but promptly shuts it.

"Oh shit, you do," Fawn groans. "Chey, spill it, right now."

Cheyenne shakes her head.

"Either you tell me or I'm calling Lip and Jax down here right now." Fawn threatens.

"You wouldn't."

"Try me."

Cheyenne glares at her friend before she folds. "He was my mentor – professor – and before I came back to Charming…he had invited me over to his place –"

"Did he…"

"He tried, but I fought…I fought him." Cheyenne tells her.

"And he followed you back here." Fawn concludes. "Holy shit, Chey, you need to tell Jax or Lip."

Cheyenne shakes her head. "No, they'll kill him."

"So?"

"ATF is in town and he isn't just any type of doctor. If he goes missing, people will notice."

"You still need to tell someone."

"I told you." Cheyenne points out and Fawn shoots her a glare.

"And to think you came home because you wanted too."

...

It took longer than expected for Cheyenne to get home as according to the radio a group of men had hijacked a prison transport and managed to injure and kill cops escorting. Even then Cheyenne wasn't all that keen on getting home in a hurry considering that Fawn had given her a countdown when she needed to tell Jax and Lip about the real reason she came home.

Finally making it home, she is surprised to see Jax's bike in the driveway. As she enters the house she isn't surprised to find Jax in the baby room and setting up the newly purchased rocking chair. And she knows now would be a good time as any to tell him about Calvin, but he is in such a good mood. She doesn't want to ruin that. Doesn't want to bring Calvin into their bubble.

Seeing her, he flashes a dazzling smile, "Hey, how was your shopping trip?"

Cheyenne holds up a small portion of her shopping bags, "Spent more than I needed."

"You got more in the car?" Jax asks her.

Cheyenne gives him a sheepish smile as she nods her head and places her bags on the dresser.

Jax places his tools down as he gets up from the floor. He comes over to her and places a hand on her belly. "How's the little guy?"

"He seems to have been satisfied with his lunch and I think he may be sleeping now." Cheyenne tells him with a smile.

"You still have room for dessert?" Jax asks her with a lecherous grin.

Cheyenne rolls her eyes, but she entertains him. "Depends what's on the menu."

"Whatever you want." He tells her as his hand moves from her belly to her hip.

"Whatever I want, eh?"

"Whatever you want," he repeats.

After her initial plan in only making Jax give her a foot massage, of course, he began massaging other parts of her body and he relaxed her in a whole different way.

After putting away the baby's clothes, Jax wasn't called into the club and the two spent the night on the couch watching old movies.

And for her shift at work she thinks that is exactly what she needed as it is an extremely quiet day at St. Thomas. Cheyenne is standing at nurse's station on the floor as she fills out some forms for a doctor regarding a patient being suitable for some reconstructive surgery.

Cheyenne files the forms and feeling some soreness from last night she becomes all too aware of her body.

Cheyenne looks down at her stomach and frowns at the added pounds that are accumulating. Cheyenne doesn't consider herself superficial or vain. She doesn't care that she would gain an occasional pound here or there.

Jax hasn't of course said anything about her appearance. After all, he has known her forever and knows how her body has shaped over the years. Now being pregnant she thinks it's a different ballgame. She's only going to become bigger and he had yet to really comment on it. Instead, he would wrap around her like a vine and nothing about her has changed.

But she was worried about after the birth. She knows she doesn't have the body that will snap back into shape. She is also anticipating the dreaded six week drought and how Jax will be able to cope. Her mind wonders to the girls who filled the clubhouse itching to grab Jax's attention. She knows Jax isn't that superficial and if she acts insecure he would see it. Plus, she doesn't think Jax would pay much attention to how she looked once she opened her legs anyways.

Cheyenne shakes her head and decides she has better things to worry about.

Cheyenne watches as a young petite brunette woman is brought into the ER unconscious. Cheyenne listens from the sidelines as she hears the explanation of why the girl was brought in. Her ears perk up at the mention of Gemma _allegedly_ being the woman's assailant. Cheyenne checks her watch and she has 30 minutes until her next appointment.

Cheyenne walks over to the girl and winces at the damaged done to her nose. Cheyenne looks over the girl's info and sees her name is Cherry.

Cheyenne is going to walk away when the girl's eyes fluttered open.

"Shit, am I going to get any pain meds?" The girl grumbles.

Cheyenne laughs. "You're already hooked you up. You are going to be feeling them in a little bit. My name is Cheyenne and I'm a Doctor here at the hospital."

The girl's brows furrow and she winces from the movement it makes. "That name sounds from familiar."

"Really? Are you new to Charming?" Cheyenne asks as she checked the girl's vitals for good measure.

"Actually, I am." Cherry informs her. "I am from Nevada, came up here today. My name is Cherry." The new arrival said as she extended her hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, Cherry," Cheyenne replies with a smile.

Cherry smiles at her and her eyes scan her body and they linger on her belly and then the young girl's eyes widen in recognition. "Wait, your Jax Teller's old lady."

Cheyenne blinks, but slowly nods her head and she tries to keep the smile on her face as her mind only comes to two conclusions about how Jax would encounter Cherry either from her being around croweaters and she was from Nevada and Jax was just there. Cheyenne stands up straighter. "Yeah, I am."

Cherry give her a wide smile, one that was of admiration, "I wish I had an old man like that. The girls were so jealous he didn't pay them attent-" Cherry stops abruptly. "Oh, I shouldn't have said that."

Cheyenne lets out a chuckle of relief, "It's fine. I take it you are…" Cheyenne trails off as she doesn't want to assume the girl was a croweater and accidently disrespect her if she is someone's old lady.

"A sweetbutt, formerly, but I want to be an Old Lady." Cherry says confidently.

"Huh," Cheyenne says. She always had a lukewarm reception to croweaters and sweetbutts as most of them were catty. There were the few exceptions like the ones that had been in the club a while who had genuine respect for the Old Ladies of the club. Cheyenne knows deep down they probably didn't like her since she had nabbed the vice president of the club. But they showed her respected unlike the baby croweaters who thought they needed to prove their worth by trying to test an Old Lady's commitment and patience. "I take it you already have a patch in mind?"

"Half Sack," Cherry informs her proudly.

"The Prospect, good choice he is really sweet." Cheyenne comments with a smile. Sometimes she feels bad about the shit the club made him do. "I hate to ask but how does the busted nose work into this?"

She watches as Cherry's face falls and she looks nervous. "Does anyone else here have an old lady?"

Cheyenne is taken back by the question. "Well the president, Clay, is married to Gemma. Then I'm with Jax and Opie has Donna."

Cherry only responds with a tight smile.

Cheyenne connects the dots. "Oh. Oh."

"Yeah, I didn't know who it was. I'm not going to press charges or anything."

Cheyenne nods her head. "Okay, well, I believe they're going to keep you here over night considering you fell unconscious on the ride over. But I'll find you a nurse."

Cheyenne leaves the Emergency quad of the hospital and is going to head into the cafeteria for something to drink when she is stopped on her journey by Calvin.

"What do you want?" She asks tightly. Right now her only choice of weapon is a pen, but she knows some very painful places to stab that pen.

"Can we talk, please, just give me a few minutes?" He asks with a hopeful smile.

Cheyenne knows she shouldn't, but she can see other nurses and doctors looking their way and she leads him to a secluded waiting room.

"What is it?" She asks as soon as the door is shut and creates distance between them.

"I just wanted to apologize for yesterday and for what happened in San Diego."

"A phone call would've sufficed. Not following me to Charming." She points out and even then with this apology it didn't mean she would suddenly forgive him.

"I know. I just would hate for what happen to affect you and your view on the career you've chosen. You were my best and brightest student." He tells her with a smile. "It's just…I must have misread the signs –"

Cheyenne reels back. "Misread." She echoes. "Are you fucking kidding me!"

"Is everything okay?"

Cheyenne whips her head to find Margaret Murphy standing the doorway. Cheyenne shakes her head. "Everything is fine." Cheyenne states calmly to the administrator.

"Are you sure?" Margaret asks skeptical.

"Yeah. I actually need to get to an appointment." Cheyenne states. "I should go."

...

Luckily his daughter manages to keep her girly fruity smelling shit tuck into the crevices of everything he owns because it was the only reason he wasn't gagging over the shit smelling guns that had no buyers. With some girly shit called Sweet Pea under his nose as he was currently cleaning out the guns for any remainder shit.

And today was just shit in general.

The first sign of something brewing was the fact Juice allowed a sweetbutt Clay had tapped to accompany him to the lot. It wasn't that surprising that Gemma had nailed the girl with a skateboard. He honestly wished that he had seen that shit up close and personal. He thinks sometimes people forget that Gemma isn't just bark, but she bites occasionally.

Lip takes a break from assembling and lights a cigarette when Jax steps out the door.

Today, Lip can say he was really impressed with his VP handled his shit today.

It wasn't as if he had doubts about Jax and what he could do.

If anything the only thing he was concerned about was this challenge – battle – that seemed to be going on between Clay and Jax.

Lip was all for the club moving into a new direction, but Clay is old and used to things a certain way. Even when he steps down he will still be an unmovable force about the club do anything that doesn't involve guns. He hopes Jax knows that despite being the man's stepson.

"You did good today," Lip tells his VP.

Jax lights his own cigarette and smiles. "I try man."

"How's your mom?"

Jax snorts. "Won't let Clay post bail."

Lip whistles. "I'd be warned that's some shit Chey is capable of."

Jax looks at him with wide eyes in disbelief.

"I'm not kidding man. Chey can be real petty – vengeful."

"I don't believe that shit man." Jax refutes.

"If you piss Chey off enough she will literally trash your bike. Remember my huffy?"

"You said it got mangled by a car," Jax says.

"That was Chey because I cut some hair off her Barbie dolls." Lip informs him.

"When was this?" Jax asks shocked.

"That doesn't matter. I'm just saying don't be worried about my right hook if you fuck up."

Jax shakes his head. "Well tell me did she learn it from my mother or yours?"

Lip winces at the mention of his mother. He hasn't heard from her since he bought the house from her about 4 years ago. And the last he heard of her she got married to some Russian. "Both of our mothers are fucking crazy, Jax."

...

Jax sighs as he runs a hand down his face and thinks today was a true testament of how he would be as President and how well he could handle shit when under pressure.

But now this little incident gave the ATF even more incentive to stay in Charming. After all, that scrawny ATF agent seemed a little too happy after they raided the clubhouse. And now coming home, it's really fucking late, and he hasn't seen Cheyenne all day. He can see that she is still up as the light from the baby room is on.

Taking off his kutte and throwing his keys on the side table and walks back to the baby room where Cheyenne is folding new baby clothes.

"Sorry it's so late. You didn't have to wait up." Jax tells her as he leans against the doorframe.

"It's okay. I passed by the clubhouse on my way home and there were agents there."

Jax sighs and steps into the room. He leans against the dresser and Cheyenne stops folding clothes and stands next to him. He decides it's better to tell her the truth if anything. "That shooting that happened on that prison escort. We supplied the guns."

Cheyenne folds her arms across her chest. "Did they find anything?"

"No, Clay was released. They should be leaving. They didn't find anything from the warehouse and got nothing now." Jax assures her.

"Even with your mom swinging skateboards?"

Jax winces. "You heard about that?"

"Well St. Thomas is the only hospital in the area." Cheyenne tells him with a small smile. "Seems like Nevada was an exciting time."

"Chey, I didn't –"

"I know. Cherry hasn't yet mastered her loose tongue." She informs him. "She's apparently here for Half Sack though."

Jax's lips tug at that.

"Is that all that happened today, Jax?"

"Yeah, been busy handling that all day. How was your day?"

"Pretty boring," Cheyenne tells him.

Jax extends his hand to her belly, "Yeah and how was this guy?"

And Jax swears his heart stopped as he felt a small barely there flutter against the palm of his hand. "Was that?" Jax asks shocked.

"Yeah, it was." Cheyenne tells him with a bright smile.

Jax's face erupts in total joy as he bends down on the floor and cups Cheyenne's stomach with both hands. Even with Cheyenne's stomach growing big everyday it never really seemed real. Unlike Cheyenne, he couldn't feel their child growing. There was a bond that mother and son would have that he wouldn't. He couldn't really feel anything with his son until now. This piece of him and Cheyenne. This human would depend on him for everything. It was scary. It was exciting.

"Fuck, Chey," he mutters as he rests his head belly.

He feels her fingers weave through his hair as her other hand caresses his cheek, "I know, Jax."

...

Lip can tell that the slow few years they had are about to be over. With the Feds in town and this recent incident with this Nate Meineke, the club is about to enter into some murky waters. It was to be expected as it was a familiar cycle as things would speed up and then slow down again.

Lip is sipping on his beer when Opie, Piney, and Jax walk through the door. By the looks on their faces, the Meineke's cease to exist.

"Hey, Ope," Lip greets.

"Hey," Opie responds.

Since Opie's release, Lip knows that Opie has been trying to lean right although he isn't sure how blowing up some underground military bunker fits with that.

"How you've been?" Lip asks.

"Shit man, I don't even know," Opie responds as he plays with the tip of his beard. "Taking it day by day."

"That's all you can do man." Lip tells him.

"You know I never exactly thanked you for what you did for my family –"

Lip brushes him off. "No need to thank me. You're family, Ope."

Opie gives him a small smile. "I know, but Donna was saying if it wasn't for you and Isla –"

"I know, Ope."

"I'm sorry about you and Nina."

"Ah, don't be."

"So you and Fawn?"

Lip rolls his eyes. "I don't know man."

Opie huffs a laugh. "Well this is a departure as Jax is the one usually with lady problems."

Lip snorts. "Well he has his hands full with my sister."

"Is that what you think?"

"He is getting my sister and a baby in one swoop. I don't think he realizes how his life is going to change."

"Give him some credit man," Opie says defending their VP.

"I am, man. Trust me, I am," Lip says. "I just worry about him." Lip reveals.

"Is that because Chey's involved now?"

"Maybe."


	18. Giving Back

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Pardon all the grammar mistakes. And tomorrow I will do another update then we should be back on a bi-weekly schedule.

* * *

Cheyenne was prepared for her son to mess up her sleeping schedule. However, she wasn't prepared for Jax to be a culprit as well. Since it's her day off, she is trying to enjoy the comfort of her bed and get as much sleep as she can when she feels the tickling of Jax's stubble on her stomach and his voice whispering to her belly. The dead giveaway are the small kicks that alert her to the fact her son is up and communicating the best way he can with his father.

Her eyes open, she finds her shirt pushed up and Jax next to, her but eye leveled with her stomach lost in his own little world talking to their son.

"You know you're making it very hard to sleep." She informs him.

"Sorry," Jax replies with a not so innocent smile.

"No you're not."

Jax chuckles before he makes a home between her thighs as he hovers over her.

And in a million years, Cheyenne honestly thought she would never be here under Jax Teller and carrying his child. She never pictured it. Never even thought of Jax in that way. She never thought of him as a man who would settle down and want to start a family.

She loved Jax she did. Growing up he was family, a close friend. She could count on him for everything. But she was certain now that she was beginning to feel a different type of love she didn't know if she was equipped in understanding.

And she finds it scary. She finds all of this scary. Motherhood and her blossoming relationship with Jax. She wonders if he does too or is this easy for him.

She brings her hands up into his long blonde hair. It's hard to imagine him being 30 years old considering he still has his boyish charms. She knows better than to voice that to him. But he really is beautiful with those blue eyes that are much older than he is. She remembers when they first started changing. It was when he told her that he killed a man for the first time. Then there was that body that she knows a lot of women have gotten a sample of, but outside of his physical beauty she always thought the most beautiful part of Jax was his heart.

She knows he is a man that loves hard and deep. She isn't sure if he realizes it, but he does. There aren't a lot of people that can say have embedded themselves in Jax's heart. She likes to think she may be one of them or soon may be.

"What are you thinking in there?" Jax asks breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Are we crazy?" She asks him quietly.

The smile in his eyes dims a little as his blue eyes turn into something different. A frown toys with his lips before a small smile tugs at them. "I'll answer that later."

Her hands trails up his arms before they come across his bare chest, and his hands go to her pajama covered hips. He then trails up her sides to the unremarkably baggy shirt he had pushed up and then pulls it over her head.

Being near 20 weeks now, her belly is no longer flat, and now has a firm protruding bump distinctly round and the biggest her stomach has ever been. Naturally it is the first place Jax goes to as his hands run over it as if it was the most incredible thing he has ever seen.

Then they are kissing, really kissing. Cheyenne moans deliriously as she can't seem to get enough of him. It always seems that he can't kiss or touch her enough. They remove any lingering clothes in record time as if they are about to devour a feast.

He begins kissing her jaw as one hand cups her swollen breasts. She closes her eyes and exhale, she squirms and hisses with his little touches, before she groans shamelessly when he places his mouth on her other breast.

His name becomes a broken plea on her lips within mere minutes. However neither of them expected her to fall apart so quickly as her spine stiffens as her body shakes from the easy release.

She opens her eyes, breathing heavily, while Jax grins down at her. "Getting more sensitive now?"

She nods her head, still feeling unsatisfied.

Jax gives her a dirty little smirk before he starts slowly kissing down her neck and he moves her legs around his waist and he slides in.

Jax fits her in a way other men haven't before.

And this time, he is slow and gentle with his thrusts. He presses a soft kiss to her lips and soon they are breathing in each other's air.

And that's how they waste the morning.

…

After a relaxing morning, Jax and Cheyenne are in his truck heading over to Opie's to look at some baby stuff they are offering to give them.

On their way over, Cheyenne realizes since her and Opie's late night dinner she hasn't seen or spoken to him or Donna. She feels guilty that she hasn't taken the time to check on the struggling family.

"How are Opie and Donna?" Cheyenne asks Jax.

"Every time I talk to Opie he's always telling me how pissed Donna is." Jax informs her. "I'm pretty sure it's not helping him adjusting to being back home ya know. All this pull."

Cheyenne nods her head absentmindedly. "Well there isn't exactly an instruction manual to handle this. She had two babies to raise, ya know."

Jax nods his head and wants to tell Cheyenne that despite that Donna was an old lady. Her job was to suck it up practically and not make her old man look weak in front of his brother's like she was doing. Even though he loved his brother, he was close to warning Ope how Donna's vocal and blatant resentment with the club was hurting him and his stance in the club.

"What would you do if I got sent away for five years?" Jax asks turning the tables on her.

Cheyenne sighs. "I don't know, Jax. I think I would be like Donna for a minute. It's only natural to be angry and pissed off. But I don't know…Opie doesn't tell her anything so she never really accepted the Life. I think a woman in this world can't be with the patch if they don't have that. It's almost like she was happy to live in the ignorance until it didn't suit her and I love Donna, don't get me wrong, but it's how I view it. But I told you, Jax, I would wait for you, even if it made me stupid. "

Jax nods his head.

…

With Jax discreetly sliding Donna money for the baby stuff, she watches the happy couple go to his truck before they head back to their place. Donna thinks she hasn't seen Jax so happy and taken with a girl ever. Not even with Tara.

She honestly didn't think Jax would ever settle down. And if he did it would be a disaster. Considering the blonde biker was a major mama's boy, Donna knew that Jax was the man that would always need some woman in his life.

The real surprise was that Cheyenne seems to be that woman he needs.

Donna knew that the two were close. While Lip and Opie were clearly brothers to Cheyenne, she feels Jax was more of a best friend than brother.

But she still can't wrap her head around the fact; Jax Teller and Cheyenne Henderson are having a baby.

"They seem happy." Donna tells Opie. It pains her to say that she doesn't remember when she was happy with Opie. She feels as if she's been this bitter and angry. And she hates herself for being that way, but then she feels Opie is the blame for that. She knows she shouldn't blame him for it, but he played a role in it.

And she hates that she has this anger towards Opie and the club because she loves her husband so much.

He is a good husband and father, but she doesn't know how that can be when he is part of some outlaw biker club.

"Seems impending fatherhood is changing Jax." Opie points out.

Donna presses her lips in a thin line. She thinks if fatherhood is really changing Jax he would leave the club or at least change it.

"I guess he could've had worse for a baby mama," Opie says after a while.

"God, I'm real happy he broke things off with Wendy," Donna comments.

"The Reno stripper that was friends with Nina?"

Donna nods her head. She remembers the curvy blonde that made no secret of her use of favorite vein. Wendy was sweet, she supposes, but easily manipulated according to Fawn. Donna was still confused on how Jax exactly made Wendy a recurring hookup, but she knows Jax literally sleeps with anything that is willing. Disgusting, but true even though she was worried why he would even bother trying to make something work with one of Nina's friends.

"Jax never really had the best taste in women," Donna comments.

"Well it's not like Charming as anything to offer," Opie says before he throws her a smile. "Besides the best woman in Charming is already taken."

Donna rolls her eyes and allows herself to fold into her husband's embrace. "Well I hope he doesn't hurt Chey."

"He won't," Opie assures her.

Donna almost rolls her eyes at the blind faith these men have in each other. Speaking from experience, she knows he will.

…

This year's Taste of Charming fundraiser founded and hosted by the SAMCRO Queen Gemma Teller Morrow proceeds are going to the music department for the middle school. Every year, Gemma helps the school district raise funds for their budgets.

Cheyenne thinks it's a nice PR scheme for the club, but she also knows that Gemma genuinely cares about Charming. Living down in a big city like San Diego and San Francisco for school, Cheyenne appreciated what a small town like Charming had to offer. Sure the reason why Charming retained a small population and nice family owned shops was because of the club it still didn't change the fact that Charming was a nice place to live. Yet, she knows that SAMCRO is so interwoven in Charming the quietness and peace Charming has to offer only relies on the club.

Thinking on it, she feels if something were to happen to the club that removing the club would fracture Charming.

She knows that most of the residents here have come to terms that the club is a necessary evil. Because it could only explain the turn out for the fundraisers as it always drew practically every citizen of this town especially the senior citizens.

Cheyenne can even admit to herself despite getting heckled in helping set up that she enjoys the fundraisers. It was nice spending time with the other old ladies, after all these people were her family. But now that she is pregnant, she knows attending this fundraiser is going to be different this year. This event will be the first event she will be attending with Jax since the news of her pregnancy had spread outside of the walls of St. Thomas and the clubhouse.

She is now practically making it known that she was involved in this world. She was now going to be subjected to the vultures, who judged everyone in the club and those associated with it harshly.

But it was something she is used too. After all she remembers how the girls at school would talk about her considering Cheyenne used to hang out with Jax and Opie. It was easy to ignore than considering most of the girls wanted to be her friend just to get close to patched members, but when they realized Cheyenne wasn't dumb white trash and saw through to their motives would go and make rumors about her.

Shaking her head, she takes a generous sip of her water when she sees Fawn making her way towards her.

Cheyenne bites her lip as she has been partially avoiding her friend since what happened on their shopping trip.

"Hey, Chey," Fawn greets as she pushes up her sunglasses.

"Hey," Cheyenne greets back as she screws the cap back onto her water bottle.

"How you feeling?"

"Good," Cheyenne replies. "Besides since I'm carrying special cargo, Gemma has me dictating more than anything."

"Good practice before Jax becomes King."

Cheyenne rolls her eyes.

"Speaking of Jax –"

"Fawn –"

"So you haven't told him," Fawn deduces.

"It's not that simple." Cheyenne refutes.

Fawn steps closer to her, her voice low, "Jax is your old man, Cheyenne. You have to let him be the one to handle business. That man knew what he was doing when he came here."

Cheyenne shakes her head annoyed. "You don't get to be the one to say that to me considering how you can't even commit to Lip."

"He has nothing to do with this, Chey."

"It has everything to do with what you're saying to me. You can't sit here and tell me how to handle this life when you can't talk to your father." Cheyenne hisses.

Fawn purses her lips together. She didn't want to argue with her friend as Fawn knows she is a difficult person. She knows this and accepts this fact about her. But despite her faults and regrets she refuses to watch her friend make them.

"It's not about you, Chey. You have a baby in that belly to think about."

"Excuse me?"

Both Fawn and Cheyenne jump at the new voice and turn to find an older woman with short black hair looking at them. Cheyenne at first doesn't recognize her, but Fawn does.

"April?"

"Hey, is Gemma still around?" April asks.

Cheyenne nods her head. "Yeah, she is setting up the chili booth."

"Thanks," April says with a small smile. "And congratulations on the baby."

"Thanks," Cheyenne mutters as April walks away.

"You think it has to do with Kyle?" Fawn asks Cheyenne.

Cheyenne shrugs her shoulders. She knows since Kyle was excommunicated that April had sided with the club although considering Kyle's wandering dick it had more to do with it. But she knows outside of April, Kyle's cold feet in doing a job had hurt his kids.

Being excommunicated from the club also meant that he was non-grata in Charming no matter what. Considering his kids were still young it meant they didn't know the truth of their father's move from Charming and the reason he is only allowed at the border to pick them up.

"I'm going to head over there," Fawn tells her.

"Okay."

"This conversation isn't over by the way," Fawn warns as she walks away.

Cheyenne rolls her eyes and decides to go back to setting up some tables before Gemma sniffs her out for being lazy.

She is tapping a plastic table cloth down to a table when a soft clear of the throat takes her attention. Looking up she finds the pretty brunette that Gemma wailed with a skateboard standing over her with a hesitant smile. "Hi." She greets cheerily.

"Hi…Cherry?"

"Yeah," the girl responds with a bright smile.

"How's the nose?" Cheyenne asks.

"Healed. Congratulations on the baby. I didn't know you were pregnant at the hospital."

"Yeah, the lab coat hides it pretty good for now." Cheyenne tells her. "How are you and Half Sack?"

If it was possible, the girl's smile gets even brighter and Cheyenne is surprised that her cheeks don't hurt. "Amazing. I think…I know…I love him."

Those words bring a smile of her own to her lips. "Well that's good to hear."

"I was actually hoping…" Cherry trails off unsure.

"Hoping what?"

"Well this Old Lady stuff…I mean…I'm been preparing for this, but it's still new to me and Charming is new to me. I like Gemma and all don't get me wrong, but I was hoping that I could come to you for advice and such."

"Oh, Cherry…" Cheyenne trails off unsure. It's on the tip of her tongue to proclaim she isn't an old lady, but she finds it would be a moot point. And Cherry seems nice and clearly needs a friend. "I don't know how much help I will be, but if you need help I'll try."

…

Jax trusted Opie and his judgement, but for the life of him he wasn't seeing the reasoning behind Opie letting Kyle come to the fundraiser. If anything he thinks his best friend will only have salt rubbed into a raw wound. And like Clay, he did think it was revenge that Opie wanted.

However all thoughts of Kyle and the weird encounter with Chucky, the man Otto was protecting in prison, die as he finds Cheyenne in the kitchen cooking dinner. Cheyenne always stole his breath, but coming home to her in a nice little satin nightie was a pleasant surprise.

"Hey, baby," she greets as she abandons her post at the stove and wraps her arms around his neck and brings him into a light simple kiss. But Jax is a greedy man and brings her back and kisses her sweetly. It wasn't the domineering where they would fight for control. It was a kiss he just let be as his tongue slid past her lips and did its familiar dance.

And slowly he feels the stress of the past few days ebb away.

Eventually Cheyenne pulls back her grey eyes darken and lips swollen and checks on their dinner. He takes a seat at the table as he watches her.

"You want a beer?" She asks him.

He shakes his head and nods for her to come over to him. She complies easy and he tugs her onto his lap and his hands caress her growing bump.

"Something wrong?" She asks him quietly.

"You remember Kyle Hobart?"

Cheyenne nods her head. "April, his ex-wife, was helping set up today."

"Well apparently their son wants Kyle to come to the fundraiser. See him play in the band. Opie's allowing it." He tells Cheyenne.

"You don't think it's a good idea?" Cheyenne asks him.

"Not for Ope." He tells her truthfully.

"I think for Opie it's more about rubbing it into Kyle's face about what he has missed since he's been kicked out." Cheyenne tells him after a bought of silence.

"I still don't think it's a good idea. It's not like Ope and his family are exactly in a good place."

"Well maybe it's for the kids. Opie doesn't want to be responsible for a man not being there for his kids." She adds.

"Kyle's actions are all his own, Chey. He knew what it meant when he bailed on Ope." Jax tells her.

Cheyenne sighs as she begins massaging his scalp. "I know you guys see things a certain way, Jax, like everything needs to be compensated. But maybe Opie…maybe he just wants a sense of forgiveness. He wants to forgive Kyle."

Jax stills at her words as he recalls his dad's words about every relationship when it came to the club was about profit or loss.

Jax doesn't say anything, but presses a kiss to her shoulder.

…

Cheyenne finds herself in a pretty good mood as she holds Jax hand as they enter the school ground for the fundraiser.

She had already prepared herself for the side eyes and whispers, but still she can't admit that it does get to her slightly.

"Hey, ignore them." Jax whispers to her before he presses a kiss to her head.

She nods her head and gives him a small smile. "I'll try."

He goes to say something else, but her niece hops in front of her excited and drags her away. Cheyenne is barely able to manage a wave to Lip, who approaches Jax's side.

Jax and Lip both chuckle at Isla's action especially as the little girl remembers her aunt is pregnant and apologizes for the rush in activity.

Jax turns to Lip, "Opie or Kyle arrive yet?"

Jax nods his head to the incoming vehicles and Jax almost snorts as both Kyle and Opie arrive at the same time. He can tell that Donna has noticed a once familiar face.

He hopes for the sake of his family that Opie thought this decision through.

"You agree with this?" Jax asks Lip.

Lip shrugs his shoulders. "I'm sure Opie has his reasons. So I'm going to respect this."

Jax shakes his head as they watch April grip Kyle's shirt. No doubt confronting about the teenager that he is labeling as a girlfriend he brought with him to his son's performance.

"There's our queue," Lip mutters as Kyle approaches the gate.

…

After Isla thoroughly exhausting her, her niece had moved on from her as Ellie had arrived and the two had dragged Opie and Lip along to every booth. Cheyenne had made her rounds in saying hi to former teachers and some coworkers and even punching in time at SAMCROs booth before she spotted Donna Winston standing by watching Kenny play with some kids.

Despite the smile on Donna's face, she can tell the mother of two is feeling pretty lonely and no doubt like an outsider as she has yet seen Donna talk to anyone from the club outside of Lip. Finishing her cup of water, Cheyenne dodges the aim of Kenny and his friends as she makes her way to his mom.

"Hey," Cheyenne greets.

"Hey, how you feeling?"

"Pregnant," Cheyenne tells her and Donna laughs.

"You still have some ways to go." Donna points out.

"I know. I'm only going to get bigger."

"I bet Jax is going to love that." Donna teases.

"I don't know why."

"Men are very primal creatures." Donna tells her. "But thanks for the crib money. Any little bit helps right now."

Cheyenne nods her head and gives her a small smile. "There's no need to thank me. I know you guys are going through a rough time. I know it's probably hard -."

"Do you?" Donna mocks and stares pointedly at her belly. "Don't give me the SAMCRO is the glue speech. I already hear it enough from Mother Gemma."

"I wasn't," Cheyenne replies not getting offended at Donna's tone. "I'm talking about you and Ope."

"What happens with me and Opie is no one's business."

"You're wrong." Cheyenne interjects. And she turns to Opie's wife and decides to give her the truth of the matter since Opie wasn't. "I love Opie like my own brother. He is my brother. I see what's happening to him. I see how what is going on with him is affecting Jax and Lip. And it scares the shit out of me. Opie can't be half in/half out. It'll get him killed, Donna." She tells her truthfully. Cheyenne believes it is about time people stop treating Donna like some delicate little flower.

"Then I want him out." Donna insists. "That other guy got out. Kyle."

"Kyle was kicked out." Cheyenne reveals to her.

"What?" Donna asks shocked. "Why?"

"'Cause the night Opie got arrested for blowing up that truck yard... Kyle was supposed to be his getaway ride. Only he panicked when he heard sirens. Left Opie behind." Cheyenne tells her regaling what Lip and Jax told her when it hit that Opie got arrested.

"Opie never said anything." Donna says obviously taken back by the truth.

"'Cause Opie's not a rat. Brothers don't turn on each other. He did the time. It's what they do." Cheyenne takes a breath and looks at her friend sadly. "Opie will never walk away from the club. We both know that. He's like Jax. It's all they know. It's in their D.N.A. And if you keep pulling him in the other direction- SAMCRO is not the glue, Donna. You are."

Donna looks at her with watery eyes as resignation overtakes her features. Cheyenne smiles at her sadly before she walks away.

Cheyenne sighs as the words she has just told Donna were words she knows down the line she was going to have to remember for herself. She knows whatever comes after this especially if things escalate with the ATF or the Mayans she is going to have to suck it up. Because it was true what she did and does affected Jax.

"You okay?"

Cheyenne jumps startled at the sound of Jax's voice and find his blue eyes looking at her in concern.

"Sorry." He tells her. "Everything fine?"

"Yeah, just lost in my head." She tells him and gives him a smile.

He looks unconvinced. "I see you were talking to Donna."

"Woman to woman," she tells him, "so none of _your_ business."

His eyebrows go up at that. "Oh yeah."

"Yep," she tells him as he pulls her to him. "But I have a feeling you were eavesdropping."

Jax doesn't deny the accusation, but he brings her into a gentle kiss and she knows her answer.

"Thanks for doing that." He says as he pulls back and leans his forehead against hers.

"I'm just concerned about Opie is all," She tells him truthfully. "And I think Donna needs to know the truth about things."

"Does the truth make things easier for you?"

She nods her head.

Jax looks at her with an unreadable expression when her eyes look over his shoulder and she finds a pair of dark brown eyes staring right at her.

"Chey?" Jax questions as he looks behind him. All he sees are random people a few looking at them like some older guy, maybe a coworker of Chey's, eating a hot dog at the PD's booth, but he doesn't see what could make Cheyenne pale like that.

Cheyenne swallows the lump in her throat as she shakes her head. She places a hand on her stomach.

Jax says sternly and worry evident in his features. "Chey."

"I need something to eat," she tells him.

His brows furrow. "Is that all?"

She nods her head and tries not to feel like a hypocrite in asking from the truth from him when she can't give it to him. "Yeah with the heat and stuff. Taking more of a toll than I expected."

She doesn't know if he buys it, but he leads her to a picnic table covered in shade while he gets her something to eat and drink. When she turns back to look at the police station's booth, Calvin is nowhere to be seen.

…

Cheyenne had tried to enjoy the rest of the fundraiser. She really did. Isla, Kenny, and Ellie were distractions for the most part, but she couldn't ignore the churning in her gut after Jax and most of the club had left for whatever reason. Even more when April had approached her asking about Kyle the churning in her stomach got increased. Cheyenne thinks she was stupid for not realizing that Kyle had left when most of the guys did.

And when she had seen Opie embracing his family while God knows what happened to Kyle, she thinks she was wrong in telling Jax that maybe Opie wanted forgiveness.

It's late when Jax finally returns home. She was sleeping, but lately she finds herself becoming a light sleeper. She turns to him as he slides into bed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." He says.

"It's okay." She tells him. He scoops her up in his arms and for some reason she feels like she wants to cry. "What did you do to Kyle?"

She feels him stiffen at her question and she assumes the worst.

Jax sighs and she feels his hand tangle in her hair and he inhales deeply. "He still had his tattoo on his back." Is all he tells her and she doesn't ask for any more details.

"I want to name the baby Abel." She tells him abruptly.

"Huh?" He says confused from the abrupt change in subject matter.

"Abel. I like the name Abel." She voices him softly.

"Where did you find that name from?" He asks her.

"Isla picked it out. Means son in Hebrew." She says. "Do you like it?"

"Abel Nathanial Teller," Jax whispers softly and they are rewarded with a kick in her stomach.


	19. Old Bones

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I think alot of you have been waiting for this chapter. Also there has been a time jump of 6 weeks between the last chapter and this one.

* * *

Lip wakes up in a great fucking mood. He doesn't know why and he isn't in an extensional crisis to figure it out. But he just feels great. Outside of the Meineke hiccup, the club seemed to be good outside of whatever was bubbling between Jax and Clay. But it was whatever right now.

His sister was happy. He could overlook her error of judgement in getting pregnant by Jax, but he was excited about becoming an uncle. Despite how much he loved his daughter, he was excited for there to be a boy in the family.

He was always anxious for the day his sister would finally settle down and start her own family. Despite what his sister might have thought she was always destined to be a mother. Even if there mother was terrible, for a lack of better words, it didn't rub off on Cheyenne. Even though she was the younger sister, she was always taking care of him.

And despite her being in school, she was a good aunt to Isla. Isla adored her aunt and when Cheyenne was in school, Isla looked forward to every phone call and gifts.

He was glad another person would be on the receiving end of his sister's love.

So along with his sister's happiness, he had his daughter.

Despite her junkie mom and him going through their rough shit, she seemed to be doing good.

She was happy so in return it made him happy.

It was the only reason he found himself tapping into his barely used cooking skills to make his daughter a feast before school.

He had made cheesy scrambled eggs, toast, sausage, bacon, grits, and even bought some fancy apple pastries that he warmed up.

Isla comes out rubbing her sleepy eyes. "What's with the feast?"

Lip throws her a bright smile. "Just felt like cooking. Besides can't let this skill go rusty."

Isla doesn't say anything, but slides into the chair and waits for her plate. Lip fills her plate up and he watches as his daughter greedily digs in.

"Wow, Dad, this is good. Why don't you cook more often?" She asks after wiping some syrup off her chin.

He shrugs his shoulders. He knows why he does as club business keeps him from doing these simple mundane things. He has passed these responsibilities off to Neeta.

"I'm going to try and cook at least once a week. I feel like we don't spend enough time together." He tells her.

"Dad, we spend a lot of time together," she disagrees.

"What? You don't want to hang out with your old man?"

She rolls her eyes as he shoots her a wink.

…

After dropping Isla off at school, with no pressing club business and not required to punch in a TM, he decides to take a ride through Charming. He hasn't done this in a while. In fact, he wishes that the brotherhood sometimes would focus more on the riding than the business.

He wishes everything wasn't about profit and loss.

He loves his club and his brothers, but sometimes he wasn't sure if it was all worth it.

He is on 44 when he notices the construction going on, but stops at the sight of a forensic team carrying what looks to be bones.

…

With damn near almost 25 years dedicated to this club, Tig has seen a lot of shit in his years. He has done a lot of shit especially when he took that Sergeant of Arms patch when Clay became President. Being a Marine for Uncle Sam paled in comparison for the shit he did for the SONS. Most of all, Uncle Sam couldn't even extract a percent of the loyalty he had for the SONS and his President.

Tig trusted Clay the most out of all his brothers. Tig trusted Clay with his club. Clay knew when it was time to get down right and bloody unlike his VP, in his opinion.

Tig loved John Teller when he was alive. John was the reason they had what they did. But it was a very open secret about the downward spiral John was on before his death after his youngest son passed away.

Hell, Tig could admit that if he were to lose one of his daughters a few screws would come loose. But he would have his brothers to help him tighten. John turned his back on his brothers and worse of all his family.

So when Clay became President he was happy for his brother, but for his club.

Yet with that transition some weren't happy.

Like Lionel Phillip Henderson.

Tig personally didn't have a problem with the man per say. His only beef with the man was that he was a junkie that even got his wife hooked on his shit. He had voiced his concerns not only to Clay, but John that despite the man only being a mechanic at the garage, he still heard and seen things, and Tig thought junkies were weak. Who would say that he would get caught with an ounce and once someone found out where he would work wouldn't make him squeal.

However, John trusted the man for whatever reason that Tig simply doesn't know or care about.

So it was unsurprising that after John died Lionel was the only one making a stink about it. Even more when Clay had pulled him aside to reveal he had found the junkie got locked up.

With a Mayan War currently going on and a change in regime, Lionel was a liability. So he didn't question it when Clay brought him in to handle it.

Tig's only thoughts were of Lionel's kids.

The kids already lost a man they thought of as their uncle, but now they were going to lose their father.

And back then, like he said in church, they weren't worried about DNA. This was pre-OJ, so if forensics ID those bodies it wouldn't be good for them. After all, Lionel is buried with the enemy and his son was now a member of the club that killed him.

"What are we going to do about, Lip, man, if he finds out?" Tig asks his President.

Despite Tig not approaching the man about his relationship with his daughter, Lip was a good brother. Hell, considering he had no problem in resorting to violence, the man would make a perfect successor for Sergeant in Arms if Tig had to voluntarily give up his patch if he could do that.

But like Jax, Lip is smart. He can sniff bullshit. It was a wonder that they were able to keep this lie about his father so close to the vest especially since his mother, Cheryl, probably knew the truth.

He watches as Clay smokes his cigar. He knows his brother has come to love Lip like a son. After all, with Lionel's drug abuse and his disappearance, he did raise the man. As a father, Tig can relate to the churning nauseous feeling of bearing bad news to his children.

But Lip wasn't a kid anymore and it didn't take much for him to start swinging those meaty fists.

"We got to get in front of it." Clay tells him.

"And Jax?" Tig asks. He wasn't blind to the push and pull that was beginning with his President and VP and considering that this shit had to deal with Lip, Jax wasn't just going to accept anything.

"Same thing," Clay says. "He knows what everybody knows they're all Mexicans. Like you said we have to stop them from identifying the bodies and guess who can give us a first class ticket to the morgue at St. Thomas."

…

"So my Dad made breakfast this morning," Isla tells Ellie during their fourth period science class. Sadly outside of this class and lunch the girls only get to see each other during those two periods.

"Really? I didn't know he could cook unless it involved a grill." Ellie comments.

"I know. It was weird." Isla says. "I mean I love my Dad and all, but that was weird."

"Well my Dad wants to take me to the movies and a dinner." Ellie tells her. "Mom thinks I should go."

"He's trying to make an effort." Isla says. "After all, at least you have both of your parents."

"I guess," Ellie comments.

…

Jax was unsure about how he felt using Cheyenne to get into the morgue, but with ATF looking for anything to charge the club with something, he knows that they couldn't let the bones be identified and traced back to their doorsteps. Jax is confused why Clay would even bury bones in Charming.

Jax is waiting at a desk as a lady pages Cheyenne when he finds a man staring him intently. At first, Jax tries to ignore it as he is used to people staring at him, but the man's gaze is persistent. Jax turns his head and takes in the older gentleman, who seems to be a doctor here, but Jax has never seen him before.

"Can I help you?" Jax asks.

The man gives him a smile, which unnerves Jax, as the man steps closer. Taking in the dark hair and eyes, Jax places this guy as the man he seen at the Charming PD's booth at the fundraiser.

"You're friends with Cheyenne?"

Jax keeps his face impassive at the mention of Cheyenne's name passing through his lips. Since Cheyenne began working here everyone addresses her by Dr. Henderson. So now this man he has never seen is addressing her by her first name.

"I'm her old man." Jax informs him and he finds an ID card on the man that identifies him as Calvin Richards. The name clicks as he remembers the conversation between Cheyenne and Margaret about this guy coming up to Charming.

"You mean boyfriend?"

Jax narrows his eyes. "Might as well add baby daddy too."

"I hear you're having a son. Must be proud."

Before Jax can answer, he feels a hand roam over his back before Cheyenne comes to his side.

"Everything okay?" She asks as she looks between him and this Dr. Richards.

"Yeah, I need to talk to you." Jax tells her.

She nods her head and he notices she doesn't spare a glance to the Richards guy.

"What's up?" She asks.

"I need your help with something," he tells her.

"Is everything okay?" She asks worried.

Jax goes to open his mouth and as he looks towards the waiting area where he left Clay and Tig he doesn't seem them and Cheyenne's name is called over the loudspeaker.

"Sorry, Jax I have to go. Is something the matter?" Cheyenne says.

Jax shakes his head. "Nevermind. Sorry for bothering you."

She gives him a soft smile and presses a kiss to his cheek. "I'll see you later."

Running a hand down his face, Jax makes the trek to the morgue and he isn't surprised to find Tig and Clay already there.

By this sneaky move, he knows his President and Sergeant at Arms are hiding something from him and the club.

"What are you doing down here?" Clay asks heatedly.

"Well, there's no interference to run... and I figured you could use the extra pair of hands. Is that all right?" Jax questions as he eyes his stepfather suspiciously.

Clay doesn't say anything as Tig slides open a drawer. "I got 'em. All three."

Clay hustles over to the remains Tig is standing over.

"Hold the head. Tight." Tig instructs Clay.

Jax knows he should be disturbed by this, but he isn't. Instead, he goes over to the other bones on the slab and notices a tag near it's head. At first he goes to ignore it, but the last name on it makes him do a double take.

"Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute." Jax says hurriedly before Clay and Tig do something stupid and get them caught with desecrating bones or something. "It's already been I.D.'d. Lionel Phillip Henderson. This is Chey's and Lip's old man."

Tig was smart to wait outside the hospital as this club matter had easily turned into a family matter. Jax eyes his stepfather and he finds that he feels slightly betrayed by this turn of event. After all, Clay and Tig had fed him the same lie along with everyone else.

But this hits deeper as this recent discovery affects his family. He knows this shit will affect Cheyenne.

"Why was their dad buried with the enemy?" Jax asks calmly.

"Casualty of war. Mayans took him out." Clay tells him.

That shit doesn't make sense to Jax. "He worked at T.M. He wasn't patched."

"Mayans went after everybody. Family, friends. Didn't matter." Clay argues.

"Lip and Chey think their dad just split. Convinced he's still out there somedays." And Jax would know. The hope had died with Cheyenne that her father was out there, but Jax knows Lip sometimes thinks his dad just left to get clean and start over.

"I know." Clay says and Jax thinks he hears some regret in the man's voice.

"So why the same grave?"

"Disrespect. I know. It was a crazy two years. I didn't have time to think a lot of shit through."

Jax looks at Clay if this is explanation, Lip isn't going to let a shit explanation like this derail him from wondering as soon as he was patched his President, the man who raised him, didn't tell him the truth even if it was dead history.

"Is that why you didn't want me in the morgue? Protect that secret?"

Clay scoffs, "I got no secrets from you."

"You know, with the Mayans I.D.'d too... I can only imagine the poison Hale's gonna pour in Lip's ear." Lip wasn't one to let Hale screw with his compass. But the fact this lie was about his father, Lip wasn't going to forgive that easily. Plus, it didn't need to be said that Lip had a quick temper. He wouldn't be surprised if Lip took a swing at Clay.

In the end, it didn't matter, as Jax needed to figure out what the hell he was going to tell Cheyenne.

…

There were a lot of things Clay were proud of like his wife, club, and the two boys he helped raise. So now as he looked at one of them, he knew the relationship he treasured and valued was about to be bruise. Clay prides himself on being able to sever ties on a whim.

Outside of being a brother, he had raised Lip as a son as he did with Jax. And those two knuckleheads showed him how tough being a father was and despite everything now and in the future, he was proud of his boys.

And raising them, he knows how they handled emotional problems.

Like he knows that Lip will try to hide it, but he won't be able to. The fact that Clay had lied to him would fracture them and the trust he had in him not only as a President, but a father.

He watches Lip work on a vehicle before those hazel eyes look up at him with a confused smile. "Is everything okay, man?"

Clay thinks he is lucky his sunglasses are still on.

"I want you to hear this from me."

"What?" Lip asks worried. "Something happen to Isla? Chey?"

"No, no, no. Your kid's fine. Chey's fine." Clay assures. Although Cheyenne could be debatable, but he was going to let Jax handle telling her the revelation about her father after all Jax was her old man. "Those bodies they, uh, pulled out of the hole on 44- one of'em's your old man."

Lip laughs in disbelief. "My dad? You're joking right. That don't make sense."

Clay keeps his face impassive. "I'm sorry, son."

"No." Lip says shaking his head. "He ran off when I was 15. He just split. Everyone told me that. _You_ told me that."

"I know." Clay says sadly.

"What happened to him?" Lip asks him.

"Mayan war. Wrong place, wrong time. The, uh, other bodies they found in the hole- those are the two Mexicans that killed your dad. Vengeance was meted out. The cops- they're gonna try to lay all those bodies at SAMCO's feet."

"I know." Lip tells him.

Clay approaches Lip and brings him into a hug. "I'm sorry, son."

"Well, the son of a bitch was already dead to me, right?" Lip tells him and Clay can tell the man is trying to hold back his tears.

…

Jax wakes up and he turns to the side and extends his arm, but finds the spot empty. He frowns as he has noticed this has been a reoccurring thing since the fundraiser. If Cheyenne wasn't tossing and turning from nightmares about god knows what, she wasn't sleeping. Despite what she said, he knows that wasn't normal in a pregnancy especially since they hadn't really hit the final weeks yet. He knows that little to none sleep isn't healthy for the baby.

It was part of the reason why he hadn't told her about her dad's bones yet. But he knows he will have to before she leaves for work.

Slipping on his jeans and shirt, he finds Cheyenne in the kitchen reading the newspaper.

"How long you've been up?" He asks her as he goes to make a cup of coffee.

"A while," she responds.

"What's a while, darlin'?" He questions further.

"For a couple hours."

"Chey –"

"Jax, it's fine. My sleep schedule is just off right now."

"Well maybe you need to go to the doctor about it." He insists.

"Jax –"

"I'm not asking you, Chey. I'm telling you." Jax orders and he watches as Cheyenne's spine stiffens.

"Excuse me?" Cheyenne says with a raised eyebrow from his tone of voice.

Jax sighs and before he can respond a knock comes from the door. Jax furrows his brow as he sets his coffee down and goes to the door.

Opening it, he finds a scrawny blonde in a navy pantsuit. But he recognizes her from the ATF agent being the one to arrest Clay for the Nate incident. He isn't surprised to find Hale standing next to her.

"Can I help you?" Jax asks as he folds his arms across his chest.

"Morning, I was actually looking for Dr. Henderson." Stahl replies.

"What for?"

"Jax, who is it?" Cheyenne asks from behind him and soon she is at his side.

"Hi, I'm Agent Stahl with the ATF. I don't believe we've met." Stahl says as she greets Cheyenne.

Cheyenne looks confused as she accepts the Agent's hand. "How can I help you?"

"Actually, Chey, can we come in?" Hale asks. "There was a recent discovery about the whereabouts of your father."

"My father?" She asks with raised eyebrows and she looks at Jax for some answers.

Jax could have killed Hale and Stahl on the spot.

Cheyenne invites them into the house and leads them to the living room.

"How far along at you?" Stahl asks as she looks at Cheyenne's stomach.

"26 weeks," Cheyenne informs her.

"Know what you're having?"

"A boy," Jax answers from where he stands next to where Cheyenne is sitting in the loveseat. After all, he is pretty sure the dossier that ATF has on the club and all it's associates already told her. Hale probably already told her.

"You must be proud. An heir to your little biker throne." Stahl directs at him.

"I'm sorry, but you said this visit pertained to my father," Cheyenne interrupts.

"Right, my apologizes." Stahl says with false sincerity. "Did you hear about the bones that were dug up on 44?"

"Yeah, they were brought into St. Thomas last night," Cheyenne says.

"A set of those bones belonged to your father," David tells her.

Jax watches as Cheyenne sucks in a breath. "What?"

"He was buried with two outlaw bikers with three bullets in the back of his head. I don't know about you, but I find that odd for a mechanic." Stahl adds with a pointed look at him.

"So are you here investigating the murder?" Cheyenne questions.

"Well, unfortunately there is no murder weapon, so there is really nothing to work on, but I thought this would provide some closure. I was made aware that you thought your father was missing." Stahl tells her.

"Hmm, well thanks for informing me," Cheyenne says. "But I have to get ready for work. So –"

"Right," Stahl says as she and Hale get up from their seats.

"I'm really sorry, Cheyenne," David tells her.

"My father's been dead to me for a long time, David." Cheyenne tells him.

Jax stays in the living as Cheyenne ushers them out. He sighs as he knows he is in big trouble.

"You already knew?" Cheyenne asks him.

Jax looks at her guilty. "Chey –"

"When did you find out?"

"Last night."

"Was that what you were doing at the hospital?" She asks him.

"I didn't know it was your dad at the time."

Cheyenne shakes her head.

He is unsure if she is going to cry and she isn't able to look at him.

"Who was he buried with Jax?" She asks him.

"Two Mayans." He tells her.

"I got to go to work." She tells him.

"Chey –"

"Jax, _please_ , I can't right now. I'll see you later."

…

Jax is unsure if he can classify what just happened between him and Cheyenne as an argument. He knows before Stahl knocked on the door that what was building up in the kitchen would have been one. But the conversation after Stahl left felt like something and it was certainly far from finished.

But if she was upset about him not disclosing about her father sooner, he sure as hell was going to get to the bottom of why she was having trouble sleeping lately.

Pulling into the lot, he finds Clay exiting the office. "You talk to Lip yet?"

Clay nods his head stiffly. "He got a call from Hale after I told him. He's at the station."

"Well Hale sure seems to be busy. He and Stahl just stopped by the house to tell Cheyenne."

Jax watches as Clay straightens up, "How'd that go?"

"Stahl knows she doesn't have anything to charge, but it's enough to stir the pot."

"Lip knows that's what she is trying do. We have nothing to worry about with him." Clay says almost trying to convince himself. However, Clay's next words rub Jax the wrong way. "What you need to be concerned about is if she _stirred_ the pot with Cheyenne." Clay tells him as he points his finger at him.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"You tell me."

Jax clenches his jaw as he narrows his eyes. "Chey's fine. _You_ have nothing to worry about."

…

Lip raps his knuckles against the wooden door to Hale's office when the door opens revealing a thin blonde. He quickly recognizes her as Agent Stahl. The Agent that was in charge of tearing up his clubhouse, he flashes a bright smile that manages to disarm her for a few seconds before she is back to a neutral business expression.

"You wanted to see me?" Lip greets.

"Yeah. Have a seat, Phillip." She responds leading him into the office. He looks over at David Hale, who seems to have no problem with this woman running the show. _Idiot_.

"It's Lip." He corrects as he takes his seat.

"I'm June Stahl, federal agent. I'm here helping out the deputy chief."

"We've met." He responds as he gets comfortable.

"Right."

"So what are you helping out with?"

David decides now to join the conversation. "We have, uh, some sad news for you about your father."

Lip shrugs his shoulders. "Yeah, I know. They found him in that hole off of 44."

"Well, you don't seem too surprised by that, Lip." June observes.

Lip snickers, "Well it's been 15 years since the bastard has been gone. Why cry over spilled milk?"

"He was a mechanic, not a gangster." June counters. "Why was he buried with outlaw bikers?"

Lip shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know. Probably a deal gone wrong and he got popped too."

He can tell the answer takes both law officials back and he's glad because despite Clay's words he didn't believe him. Lip hated the fact that he couldn't believe Clay. He would be fine knowing Clay as his President needed to lie for the club or too him for the club. But Clay the man who was practically his father, for him to lie hurts him more than her would ever admit. He can't reconcile the fact that Clay may have had a hand in his father's demise.

"You know, they found three bullet holes in his head." June says trying to take control of the conversation. "Now, what could a mechanic do that would incite such a gruesome death?"

"I don't know."

"You know we already spoke to your sister."

That garners Lip's attention. "What?"

"Yeah and your mother –"

"You managed to get ahold of that junkie!"

"Ex-junkie. She's happily married now in Oregon. Wouldn't dare speak about it."

"Well if she can't speak to her own children what makes you think she would give a shit about a dead husband."

"Well let's see things from her point of view here." Stahl begins. "I've been informed about your parents' relationship, despite the drug abuse; the two were madly in love. Hypothetically, let's say Daddy pissed off Clay, husband goes missing, she knows why and then she has an overdose after being clean for 6 months. Then after completing another stint of rehab, she finds her two children under the thumb of Clay Morrow and Gemma Teller, the future Mrs. Morrow."

"What's the point you're making here?" Lip asks bored.

"He was buried with the enemy," Stahl points out. "He was in the same grave because he had the same killers. Use your head, Lip. SAMCRO killed your father."

Before Lip can fire back the door is sprung open revealing Unser. Lip knows that Clay must've called and warned him. "What's going on in here?" Unser asks heatedly as he looks around the room. "Who the hell are you?"

June throws him a small smile as she shows him his badge. "A.T.F."

"Just what we need. You guys wanna rent a goddamn wing?"

"Aren't you spunky."

"You done with him?"

"For now." Hale responds.

"Get out of here, Lip."

…

Cheyenne is resting her feet in the employee's lounge when the door opens and she does a double take when her brother walks through the door.

"Everything okay?" She asks with furrowed brows.

Lip doesn't answer her as he sits next to her on the couch and runs his hands down his face. "You know about Dad?"

She nods her head stiffly. "Some ATF agent and Hale came to the house this morning."

"How you feel about it?" Lip asks her lowly.

Cheyenne sucks in a breath as the two of them had an unspoken agreement that it was useless to speak about their parents. After all, it was an old wound that was best left alone in thinking about their parent's abandonment. But to know that her father was murdered almost changes her feelings about her father.

"Well after the first year I've always assumed he was dead. Doesn't change anything."

"Nothing at all?" Lip asks her.

Cheyenne shakes her head. "I don't want it too. It's dead history, Lip."

She watches her brother clench his jaw and for a moment she is confused on why Lip is more affected by this than her. When their father was alive, he and Lip never got along. There were a few times the two would get into physical fist fights mainly over their father's blatant drug use. Cheyenne could say that she really didn't think Lip cared about their father. But maybe she is looking at it from the wrong angle.

"How'd you find out?" She asks him.

"Clay told me."

"Three bullets in the back of the head, Lip, I don't think he pissed off a drug dealer." She tells him.

Lip nods his head and plays with the tip of his beard. "The ATF agent said that she called Mom."

"What!"

"Yeah and apparently mommy dearest wasn't keen on talking either."

Cheyenne doesn't find it that surprising. Her mom should have never been a mother. Cheyenne is unsure how her dad managed to knock up her mother once let alone two times. Cheryl Henderson was an eccentric woman. She expected a lot of things despite her husband being a simple mechanic.

"Might mess up the newlywed bliss she has with the Russian she married." Cheyenne says.

"You think she knew?" Lip asks.

"It would make sense as to why she stayed away all these years."

"But to leave us?"

"Would we have left?" Cheyenne asks her brother. And they both know they wouldn't have. Their mom was a junkie just like their father and her sobriety was always a fickle thing. Besides they were entering teenage years and neither of them could imagine uprooting their lives at that moment. "What did Clay tell you?"

"Mayan war. Crossfire." Lip tells her.

"Do you believe him?"

He doesn't answer.

…

It would be an understatement for Clay to say he was in a mournful mood. He thinks he is almost depressed by what the bones have brought up in it's shallow grave. After all, there were more truths buried with Lionel's bones that Clay didn't want to face.

More truths that would hurt his other son, so even after being able to sneak away for a ride despite his aching mitts, it didn't provide him any clarity except that he will have to come clean to Lip about how his father died. Of course, a truth that would still be cloaked in a lie, but close enough that Clay knows their relationship will change forever.

Pulling back into the lot of the garage before the fight for their money for the IRA, he isn't surprised to find Lip in the garage especially after Gemma informed him that Isla was staying with Fawn. If Clay knows his son it's that Lip will fold into himself because so far he hasn't had to bail the man out of jail for beating the shit out of someone.

Clay takes a deep breath as he heads into the garage, "You alright son?"

He thinks Lip is going to ignore him. Instead, Lip cleans his hands off with a greasy rag and Lip's hazel's eyes stare straight into Clay's blue ones. "I love you like a father, Clay. I love you more than my own father. Hell, Clay you raised me even when my dad was alive. So tell me the fucking truth about why my dad was buried with them!" Lip roars.

Clay is barely able to hide his flinch at Lip's booming voice.

"For 15 years you've been fucking lying to me. You kill him, Clay?"

"I lied to you, son." Clay admits.

"Don't you call me that." Lip snaps as he throws a tool on the bench.

Clay clenches his jaw as he steps closer to Lip. "Your father wasn't killed by the enemy. He was the enemy." Clay says heatedly. Clay's hands burn with the thought of Lionel. Clay had never trusted him considering the man would stick anything in his veins. But John did for whatever reason. There was never any beef between him and Lionel personally. Yet, after little Thomas Teller died, John spiraled and Lionel was there for John in a way him and apparently even Piney couldn't be for John. So it wasn't surprising to find that John was sharing his every woo with the simple junkie mechanic.

And Clay imagines Lionel would possibly be alive today except the junk made him cocky and dumb. After a heated conversation with the father of two, Clay knew what needed to be done.

As a man, Clay had to recognize that he would also have to look into the man's children and lie to them.

"He was a loathsome piece of shit. Treated you and your sister like dirt. Hell, even more than your crazy fucking mother." And Cheryl Henderson was a crazy fucking broad. Despite Lionel fucking her up with his addiction, she didn't fry all her brain cells like her husband. "Cared more about the junk than he did about his friends... his family." Clay adds.

"So he deserved to die because he couldn't keep his veins clean?" Lip questions.

"I killed him 'cause he was a rat. A weak junkie rat." Clay admits.

Clay watches with a pang in his chest as he can tell Lip is fighting tears as he looks away from him.

"I'm sorry I lied to you son." Clay says after a moment of silence. "It's just…you and your sister…the truth didn't seem important. I know your angry, but no matter what I love you. You're my son, nothing changes that."

Lip doesn't reply and Clay knows that he needs time alone. Slipping his shades back on, Clay exits the garage.

…

Lying in her bed, Gemma has a feeling things are going to change within SAMCRO. Her son is about to become a father. The truths about these bones are sure set to rub Lip the wrong way. The Feds are still circling them and things could possibly be escalating with the Mayans.

She hates that things can't just happen slowly in this lifestyle. Either it's downright boring or everything hits them at once. She supposes the light at the end of this tunnel is the upcoming birth of her grandbaby.

Thinking about her unborn grandson brings a smile to her face, but she is also worried. She still feels troubled about Jax mentioning finding something his own father wrote and how Clay let it slip Jax seemed to be challenging him – questioning him.

She would've brushed it off as Jax being young and the future king; he was bound to do that. It was practically his right to challenge his king on his leadership. However, she was worried when Clay said that Jax thought the rebuild for the club warehouse should be used for something else besides guns.

Gemma cursed John Teller and his pathetic regrets.

But now she was also going to have to worry about Lip and Cheyenne.

Despite Lip's physical appearance the boy was very soft inside. Don't get her wrong there was a cold dangerous anger he could possess like all these men. Since he became a father unlike the other men he would never put the club first before Isla. It was something that she knows made the men uncomfortable, but no one would call him out on it. But he didn't have that drive – determination – that her own boy possessed it seemed.

Besides, she knows that if anything with her son becoming a father and Lip possibly pulling, there is one woman that will be at the center of it: Cheyenne.

Since Cheyenne had returned to Charming and subsequently fell pregnant, Gemma hasn't really bothered Cheyenne that much. After all, the woman was a burgeoning doctor and had a career. There was also the fact Gemma didn't see the need too.

Cheyenne grew up in this. There wasn't anything Gemma thought she would need to concern herself about when it came to Cheyenne. But maybe, just maybe she may be wrong about that with all these changes.

Gemma's thoughts are broken when she hears movement in the house and a couple minutes later Clay enters the bedroom looking simply tired.

She knows this stuff with Lionel's bones has been weighing heavily on him.

"How'd it go, baby?" She asks as she takes off her reading glasses. There aren't any bruises she imagines that it didn't go to bad.

Clay only sighs as he lays across the bed and into her lap. "What'd you tell Jax? About the bodies."

"Some of the truth." Clay responds.

"And Lip?"

"A little more."

"What about Cheyenne?"

"I'm sure Lip and Jax will talk to her."

Gemma sighs. She imagines she will have to take care of it. "The rest stays buried." She tells her husband after all there are worst secrets between the two.

"Yeah," Clay exhales, "and rest in peace."

…

Cheyenne's nails rake across Jax's muscular shoulders as he lifts her up and down on his lap. Her purple painted nails dig into his shoulders before they trail up into his long blonde hair. She moans into his mouth at a hard thrust and for some reason she opens her eyes and instead of seeing blue her vision is flooded with brown. She pushes at his chest, Jax releases her confused and she scrambles off his lap sweaty and panting.

She can feel Jax's eyes on her as she catches her breathe.

Jax frowns as he tries to figure out what the fuck is happening in their bedroom.

Skipping out on the fight, Jax had arrived home before Cheyenne and had waited for her so they could talk about the morning and the truth about her father's disappearance. Yet, she simply seemed to not care or even be upset. Jax honestly found it unsettling.

Instead, she brushed it off and after a quick dinner, they were here and now he was sexually frustrated. He thinks maybe he should've pushed harder about what she was really feeling with her dad. Sighing and wanting to light a cigarette, Jax sits up in bed and looks at Cheyenne.

"Is this about your dad because I'm sorry I should've –"

"I lied to you."

Her words stop him cold and his spine stiffens.

Of all things to come out of her mouth, he never expected that.

But at least he knows he wasn't imagining things that something was going on with her from her poor sleep these past few days.

"About what?"

As soon as those words leave his lips and her grey eyes connect with his blue ones, she begins to cry. It takes him back.

Cheyenne feels guilty because she should've told the truth from the very start about why she came back home. She doesn't know why her Dad's fucking bones was the thing to break her, but it was. She thinks it's because she can't live with the lies. She knows this world she lives in is entangled with them, but if there is one thing she wants is for her and Jax's relationship to be the one truth she has to cling too.

She just didn't think that this would get this far.

But Fawn was right. She has a baby to think about and Jax deserves to know this truth.

She hears Jax moving behind her and she flinches when he touches her, but it doesn't deter him. She finds her sticky cheeks being encased by his warm callous hands as he forces her to look at him. But she can't. Cheyenne moves out of the bed and quickly snatches up her clothes and covers herself. She doesn't know how to to tell Jax this and she's not sure if she wants too knowing how he will react.

"Chey, you need to tell me what the hell is going on," he says from the bed. Her reaction no doubt putting him on edge. "Do you trust me?" He asks her.

"I do," she tells him. She trust him wholeheartedly. "I'm just worried."

Jax's brows furrow as he looks at her as if he is trying to figure her out. "About what?"

Cheyenne bits her bottom lip and she moves to sit back down on the bed. "I...I...I didn't tell you the whole reason of what made me come back to Charming sooner."

Jax looks at her silently urging her to continue. "That doctor, Calvin Richards, who you were talking to earlier. He's my former professor. He's the reason I came back to Charming."

Jax repeats her words a couple times in his head and he is sure he does not understand her words right. "What did he do, Chey?"

Cheyenne licks her salty lips. "Back in school, he was my mentor, and we were close. I admired him a great deal, but then one day he invited me to his place. I didn't think anything of it…but he –he…."

The words get caught in her throat and Jax assumes the worst. He doesn't even want the word to slip past his tongue, but he needs this clarity.

"Did he rape you?"

"He tried," she tells him with watery eyes. "But I fought so hard, Jax. I fought so hard." She tells him before she breaks down in tears. Jax holds her in his arms as her tears stain his chest. Honestly, Jax doesn't even know why to say right now. He wants to shout in anger and the closest target is Cheyenne, but he knows that won't help anything especially as she can't even look at him as she feels ashamed. He presses kisses to her hair as he tries to figure out how to process this.

Not once since she has come home did he expect this.

Not once.

He thinks it makes sense now as she never really talks about her time away.

However he is hit with the fact this mother fucking has followed her back home and is working at the same hospital as her as him wanting to rip the motherfucker's heart out. With the anger burning through his veins, it doesn't distract him from the fact that Cheyenne didn't trust him enough to tell him this from the start or even after she fell pregnant with their son.

"I didn't know he would follow me back here, Jax. But with the baby…I'm sorry, Jax."

"I know, I know," he tries to soothe as he presses a kiss to her forehead, "But Cheyenne," he says lowly as he pulls back so they are looking each other in the eyes. "Don't lie to me again."

She nods her head and holds him tighter. "Are you...are you going to..?" She whispers and she can't finish her sentence.

Jax frowns as he looks down at Cheyenne with tear stained cheeks and the round belly that encases their child. He finds it odd that he can look at someone so beautiful – that he can have this in his life – with knowing what he is going to do.

He only nods his head as he holds her closer.


	20. The Pull

As for the past week, Jax finds himself laying awake late in the night since Cheyenne revealed what happened to her. He fights the urge to just track down Calvin and kill the man with his bare hands. But he knows that he can't be that impulsive. This man is a respected doctor who would be missed. So he knows that he needs to keep his anger in check.

Surprisingly though he finds that it's easy to keep this to himself.

He wasn't going to tell Opie or even Lip about this. He is sure Cheyenne wouldn't want him to, but if the need calls for it, he knows she won't object.

And in this anger, he finds it hard to remember his father's words. He knows that he shouldn't want to succumb to the violent rage inside him. However, he feels that he has no other choice. Calvin knew what he was doing by coming back here. Even if Jax wasn't Cheyenne's old man, he still wouldn't have a problem doing what needed to be done.

His attention is taken by Cheyenne who begins to move in her sleep. Now as she nears 27 weeks, she has really been feeling uncomfortable. He knows that with this recent stress isn't helping her either.

"Jax?" She asks sleepily.

"Yeah, babe?"

"Can you…can you hold me?" She asks hesitantly.

Jax turns and scoops Cheyenne into his arms. His hands rest on her bump that will continue to grow. "Bad dream?" He asks her.

Cheyenne doesn't say anything for a while before he feels her hands grab one of his, "I just…"

"Babe?"

"I don't want you to feel as if what happened to me was why I came back home or that I regret it."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Jax asks her quietly.

Cheyenne sighs as she intertwines their fingers. "I didn't want the pity or seem weak."

"Chey –"

"Jax, until you've been in a situation like that…I know I could've had it worse, but to be in that. I didn't – don't – want to be a victim. That I needed saving." She explains to him.

Jax swallows the lump in his throat as he doesn't know what to say.

"You want to talk about your time down in school and stuff? You said you messed around with Daniels."

Cheyenne chuckles. "You really want to talk about my ex-boyfriend?"

Jax shrugs his shoulders.

"You know he thought we had something going on," Cheyenne tells him.

"Well we did."

"No we didn't. It was one time, Jax."

"Yeah, the sex," Jax says with a laugh, "but you knew there was more to it."

"Hmm."

"Why did you sleep with me at the streams?" He asks her.

"I didn't want to have any regrets." She tells him.

…

After catching a few more hours of sleep, Jax wakes up to an empty bed, he leans up on his forearms as Cheyenne comes into the bathroom in the middle of getting ready for work.

"You sure going to work is the best thing for you right now?" He asks as she rips off the tags to one of her new maternity scrub shirts.

"My due date is still 10 weeks away," she tells him as she slides the material over her expanding belly. "I can't lose that much time."

"But –"

Cheyenne comes over to the bed and presses a kiss to his lips. "I need my work, Jax."

"Alright," Jax says as his eyes trail down to her stomach and he lays a hand on it. "Just take it easy."

"Always do."

With some time to spare in the morning, Jax decides he is going to take a ride before heading to the garage.

After all, he knows the men can see that he is wound tight. But no one has asked him about it. He thinks most of them just assume it is finally hitting him that he is about to become a father. He's fine with it.

He is heading down Main Street when he sees a flash of brown and a familiar looking man in a business suit. He thinks he would have missed him if he hasn't been so vigilant for the man.

Later in the morning, Jax asks if she is sure that she wants to go to work, but she tells him that she's fine. She presses a kiss to her lips and heads out for a ride when he spots Calvin at Floyd's. Jax isn't sure how he was able to park his bike, but he somehow does as he parks it next to the shiny Hybrid. He takes out his Ka-Bar knife and doesn't think twice when he stabs the radiator.

"Hey, asshole! That's vandalizing. I can put you away for that."

Jax turns and finds Calvin hurriedly exiting Floyd's with his cellphone in head. But he notices the man becomes tense when he realizes it's him.

Jax flashes him a deadly smile as he sheathes his knife. "So tell me do you get off on the thrill of the chase?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." The man denies.

"I'm only giving you one warning so you better get in your little cage and get the fuck out of Charming or next time it won't be a piece of shit car I'm draining fluid from."

Jax goes to walk away when Calvin responds. "What she tell you? That she didn't want it? Because she did with all her smiles and _innocent_ touches. Hell, you know what she's like and man –"

Jax doesn't let the man finish his words before he punches him right across the jaw. Calvin looks shocked as he cradles his cheek and wipes his bloody lip. Jax doesn't expect the man to fight back, but he does and luckily Jax's reflexes work in his favor, but Jax isn't prepared for the man to stab him in the leg with a pair of fucking scissors.

All Jax feels is rage when he throws the man through Floyd's window. He doesn't remember anything else as he beats the man savagely.

…

Jax stares at Agent Stahl as she looks through the recent report detailing what happened ten minutes ago before she sits across from him. Unser is quiet besides him. He tries to ignore the pain coming from his left thigh. "Barber says you came in for a haircut. Calvin attacked you with a pair of scissors. So you pushed him through a plate glass window. Self-defense."

Jax sighs, "That's what Floyd saw, I guess that's what happened."

Stahl smiles, "That's fantastic." She stares him down while he gives her a blank face. "Tell me. Are they all just afraid of you... or convinced that you are a necessary evil?"

"You charging me?"

"No charges." She replies.

Jax moves to leave when her words give him pause. "You know I'm curious as to why Dr. Richards would go after you with a pair of scissors? I mean what beef can a specialist in maternal fetal health and reproductive endocrinology have with a mechanic and Harley enthusiast."

"Maybe you should ask him."

Stahl nods her head, "Or I can ask Cheyenne."

Jax's eyes narrow.

"You know I've been doing my research, she has a bright future ahead of her as a doctor. You're a lucky man to be able to snatch her up."

"Get to the point."

"Cheyenne abruptly leaves San Diego after working under Dr. Richards, who has a reputation of being a little too friendly. Considering how you guys covet your bikes I assume it applies to the _old ladies_ as well. I wish I had that kind of pull over someone."

"You done?"

"Yeah. She's done." Unser replies for her.

"Thanks man," Jax says as Lip picks him up from the station.

"Do I want to know why you're throwing doctors through windows?" Lip asks him.

Jax shakes his head.

"You sure I mean all doctors work at St. Thomas. My sister works at St. Thomas."

"Lip, this isn't your business." Jax tells him.

Lip looks over at him with a raised eyebrow. "O-kay."

It's quiet for a little bit and Jax sighs before he runs his hand down his face. "I'm sorry bro."

"I get it man. I don't like it, but I get it." Lip tells him.

"How you doing?" Jax asks as he thinks him and Lip haven't' really sat down since the reveal about what happened to his dad. Jax can also tell that Lip and Clay haven't been the same since the truth came out.

"I'm good. Got Isla. She wants to sign up for softball or lacrosse. So I've been helping her with that." Lip tells him with a smile.

"And Fawn?"

Lip laughs. "Hell man, I don't know. We cooled down. I just need to be a dad and brother right now. Although I can't wait to add uncle to the list."

Jax smiles at the thought of his son. _Abel_. It still felt surreal knowing that he and Cheyenne had created this human and they were soon going to become parents.

"Shit man, sometimes I can't believe I'm going to become a dad."

"Hey man, 9 years later I can't believe Isla is my little girl." Lip tells him.

"You're doing good though. I know balancing fatherhood, Nina, and the club ain't easy." Jax tells him.

"It ain't man. Just have to know where your priorities are."

"And what are yours?"

"My daughter, my sister, and my nephew come first before all else."

…

Cheyenne finds herself sitting in Margaret Murphy's office along with Hale standing behind the hospital administrator. She looks at the two confused, "Is everything okay?"

Hale gives her a small sad smile. She does a more thorough observation of Margaret and she can tell the administrator is tense as her lips are pressed in a thin line, but furthermore she had been rubbing her eyes as her eyeliner is even smudged a bit.

Hale moves forward and takes lead, "There was an altercation between Jax and Dr. Richards today."

"Oh my God, is Jax okay?" Cheyenne asks worried.

"Jax received a minor injury, but is otherwise fine. It was self-defense."

Cheyenne furrows her brow. "Calvin attacked him?"

Hale nods his head. "Now, Cheyenne, doing the background checks, we came across some flags with Dr. Richards."

"Like what?" Cheyenne asks.

"There have been a couple complaints made against him from former colleagues."

"What does this have to do with me?"

Margaret sniffles as she looks at her, "While you were under his mentorship did he do anything out of line?"

Cheyenne opens her mouth, but then closes it. She then feels a strange pulse in her belly that she could almost write off as a strong kick, but they usually aren't accompanied by pain. Cheyenne clutches her belly and Hale surges forward along with Margaret.

"Chey, are you okay?" Hale asks.

Cheyenne brushes him off. "Yeah, just a kick that took me by surprise." She tells them as she clutches her belly. "But um…Calvin…he has always been friendly, ya know. At times maybe a little touchy, but I guess I could see it. I mean there was always a clear divide of people who liked him and others who didn't."

Cheyenne feels another pull in her stomach, which causes her to suck in a deep breath.

"Cheyenne, I'm going to clear your schedule. You should go home and rest." Margaret says.

Cheyenne nods her head, "Thanks."

"Chey, I wouldn't be surprised if someone calls regarding Richards now that he will have the Board questioning him. He's being sent back down."

"Thanks for the warning."

…

Jax parks his bike in the driveway relieved to take some of the weight of his throbbing leg. He has plans to just grab a beer and relax. The club didn't need him and he was lucky that he managed to avoid his mom before his fight with Calvin reached her ears.

However, he wasn't expecting Cheyenne to be home this early.

He places his helmet on his bike as he walks into the house. He is instantly hit with the scent of cinnamon, pine, and vanilla.

He almost does a double take at the inside of their house, which is in the process of turning into a Christmas Wonderland.

"Chey?" He calls out as he places his keys in the gingerbread ceramic plate. He furrows his brows trying to figure out when in the hell she had time to buy all this. He knows she was slowly accumulating some Christmas decorations like window clings, some garland, and lights. Now she had some Christmas pictures, accents, poinsettias, a throw blanket for the couch, and that was just walking in. He hasn't seen any of the other rooms.

He hears the padding of her feet down the hall and finds her in very short plaid green shorts and one of his shirts. She gives him a small sheepish smile.

"Is it too much?" She asks him as she places a kiss on her lips.

He shakes his head. "When did you get off work?"

"After I was informed you got into a fight with Calvin."

Jax sucks in a breath.

"Are you okay?" She asks him with worried doctor eyes.

Jax nods his head and he moves to go sit down and he can't hide his limp.

"What happened Jax?"

"Bastard stabbed me with scissors."

"What!" She screeches as she immediately tries to undo his pants.

"I'm okay, Chey."

"He's a doctor, Jax. He knows where to stab for it to hurt the most." She explains.

Jax grabs her wrists. "I'm fine, babe, really."

Cheyenne sighs and concedes reluctantly. "Are you mad at me?"

"What? Why would I be mad at you?"

"For not saying anything."

"Babe," Jax says as he pulls her into him. He places a hand on her belly as he rubs it and is rewarded with a small kick. "It doesn't matter anymore, okay."

Cheyenne nods her head.

"You look tired."

Jax smiles at the scowl of defiance as he knows she knows that she is, but she won't give him the satisfaction of admitting it.

However, it doesn't stop her from leaning into his side as they recline on the couch. It isn't long before they both fall asleep.

…

With her schedule cleared for another day, Cheyenne finds herself at home wrapping some gifts she had already bought for Jax, Lip, and Isla for her small fake Christmas tree.

She had fought tooth and nail for a real live pine, but Jax didn't want one for whatever reason. Her reason she suspected was that he was being lazy. There was always next year. Besides she didn't think she would honestly be up for looking at trees with the way she was feeling. She thinks Jax knew that so she wasn't going to get into a row over a Christmas tree. Although she could call her brother to find one for her.

For now she was content in wrapping some of the gifts she had bought. Christmas was around the corner after all. And it would be the last few weeks before she and Jax would be alone. It wouldn't just be them anymore. Soon it would be them with their son.

Cheyenne places her hand on her stomach and thinks maybe this feeling of hers is just nervousness from the impending birth. Maybe her son was feeding off that.

She is startled when a knock comes from the side door before it's open and she sighs in relief as she looks at Fawn.

"Hey."

"Should you be at work?"

"Working the night shift." Fawn tells her as she enters the house. "You don't look so good."

"Great what every pregnant woman wants to hear. Is that why you're here? Jax called you?" Cheyenne accuses.

"Hey, don't shot those laser eyes at me."

Cheyenne rolls her eyes.

Fawn enters the living room and joins her on the floor and begins helping her wrap gifts. "So I take it Jax found out about Calvin?"

"What do you think?" Cheyenne asks tightly.

"I'm surprised Jax didn't kill him."

Cheyenne shakes her head.

She doesn't want to talk about Calvin or the fact she would have to live with the fact Jax would've killed someone for her. It also annoys her that Fawn seemingly has no problem with this, but condemns the club for this type of retribution.

"What's going on with you and my brother?" Cheyenne asks switching the topic.

"Nothing at the moment."

"Why's that?"

"I can't be what he needs." Fawn tells her. "I know there will come a point that the club will be in hot waters and I can admit that I wouldn't be able to handle it. I'll hate him if he ended up in prison or dead. And I won't do that to the both of us."

"Do you love him?"

"Of course, but I don't want to hurt him."

"Sometimes, Fawn, it's the same thing."

Fawn chuckles, "Do you love, Jax?"

Cheyenne runs a hand through her hair before she places it on her stomach. "I don't know."

Cheyenne has always loved Jax, but she doesn't know if she is in love with him. She's happy with him, but that's all she can really say about it.

"I'm happy," she tells her friend.

"That's a start." Fawn tells her.

…

After wrapping more presents and Fawn ordering them some lunch, Cheyenne was struggling to keep her eyes open when Fawn finally left after tucking her into bed as if she was a baby. Considering how tired she was feeling, Fawn didn't get any resistance from her.

She doesn't know how long she has been sleeping, but she wakes with fingers running through her hair. As she fights to stay asleep, she hopes Jax has a good reason for waking her.

She turns over to face the side where Jax is sitting next to her. "Jax, you better have a good reason for waking me up." She mumbles.

She doesn't get a verbal response and instead the fingers in her hair become more insistent.

"Jax," Cheyenne questions and she opens her eyes and immediately her body tenses and she goes to scream before a hand clamps down on her mouth.

"Shhh," Calvin orders and Cheyenne's eyes widen when she feels Calvin bring a gun to her head. "Don't scream or my finger will slip."

Cheyenne feels a painful pull in her stomach and she closes her eyes as she fights the whimpers that threaten to escape her throat.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I had to do it this way, Cheyenne. But I just- I needed five minutes... and I knew there was no other way." Calvin tells her as he removes his hand from her mouth and steps back. She notices his busted lip, black eyes, and the bruised cheek.

Considering the wrinkled clothes and overall disheveled appearance she knows he must have been hiding in his car all day.

"Please, just leave, Calvin. I won't say anything." Cheyenne says with somehow a steady voice.

"Five minutes." Calvin snaps as he scratches the gun with his head. "I just need- I need five goddamn minutes!"

"Okay. Sure. Five minutes." Cheyenne concedes. "Let's start over. Okay?"

Calvin smiles and he places the gun next to the night stand. "Thank you for giving me this chance. I know that my behavior has been less than chivalrous... and I apologize for that. Sometimes love- passion- inspires a man's baser instincts. He does things he's not proud of. I'm sorry for those things. I never meant to scare you." He explains.

In the back of her mind, Cheyenne wonders how a brilliant man like Calvin can be this crazy. "And now this –" he states as he points to her rounded belly, which she instantly protects. "I'll be able to overlook it. Water under the bridge. You and Jax…You and him- That can never happen. You know that. You know that's all wrong, don't you?"

Cheyenne isn't sure if it's a rhetorical question, but she nods her head to appease him anyway.

He smiles brightly as he comes to sit down next to her. "All that matters... is this moment right now- You and me, Cheyenne. We have the chance to put it all on the table. Work it out. Build the foundation that this relationship needs. Why don't you-Why don't you start?"

Cheyenne looks at him with wide eyes and opens and closes her mouth as she tries to figure out how in the hell to get out of this situation. "Okay." She sighs and looks at him with scared eyes. "I guess I should talk about, uh- What do you want me to-"

"No- Oh, sweetie- This is about what you want. This is your opportunity to clear the air. Tell me everything that you think doesn't work in our relationship. I know I wasn't imagining that there was something between us. Be straight with me- Brutally honest." He encourages and she looks over at the lock and sees that it's nearing 9 o'clock and she wonders where in the hell Jax is at.

"Okay. Um- I guess, you know... you were my professor, my mentor. So when you invited me to your house…you tried to be intimate with me. I got scared."

Calvin looks at her with wide crazy brown eyes, "But you know now... that there was nothing to be afraid of, right? You just, uh- You weren't used to being loved... so deeply." He tells her as he goes to give her a kiss, which makes her jump back. "Oh." He laughs. "Okay, relax. My little worry wart."

He leans in for another kiss, but she rejects him again. "I'm with Jax –"

Cheyenne cries out more in shock than pain when Calvin slaps her hard across the face.

Cheyenne looks up at him and she tries to make a run across the bed, but he grabs her by her hair and throws her back onto the bed.

He immediately straddles her, which is hard to do considering her belly and it's the only reason she loses some of her fight is because of the pressure he is putting on her belly.

"I know in my heart this is the right thing. What I feel for you, is- It's deep. It's- It's God given." He tells her as his hands roam her body. She fights the urge to throw up. "This is our chance for a fresh start, Cheyenne." He says as he presses a kiss to her neck and he goes to her lips when she stops him.

"No. No, wait! Wait, Calvin. Wait. Please. Please. Not this way." She says as she sits up and removes her shirt. She watches in disgust as his eyes darken. "It's-It's- It's a fresh start. Um, make love to me. Gentle, like I know you can. Please, baby. I know you don't want to hurt me or the baby. I know you don't."

"Right, right, the baby, how could I forget the baby." He says as he switches their position and removes his shirt.

Cheyenne gives him a shy smile before he settles on his lap and begins pressing kisses on his chest.

She listens to him moan and her stomach revolts. She feels a sharp pain shot through her stomach that she hides as she bites her bottom lip.

"I don't want to hurt you." He tells her through a moan. "I just- I'm in so much pain. When I think about you- Do you have any idea how this feels?"

"Shh. I know, I know, baby. But I'm with you now. It's just me and you," she tells him as she leans up and through the urge to vomit and scream she presses a deep and bruising kiss to his lips. She blindly searches for the gun on the night stand. Before Calvin can comprehend the gun is in her hands and she easily clicks off the safety and she pulls the trigger into his stomach. He tries to push her off and grab the gun but she pulls the trigger again.

"Oh, God. You stupid bitch." He shouts as he moves off the bed and clutches his stomach.

Cheyenne moves to the opposite side of the room as she keeps the gun on him with shaky arms. Thankfully, she knows that there are burners in Jax's side of the side table. She quickly pulls one out.

"Call an ambulance." Calvin groans as he applies pressure to his wounds with his hands. "I'll bleed out. Chey, Cheyenne, I'm sorry. Don't let me die. Please don't let me die. Please? I'm- I'm- I'm sorry. I'm-"

Cheyenne ignores him as she calls Jax who answers on the third ring.

…

Cheyenne waits in the living room with the gun for Jax. Her hands can't stop shaking as her stomach is protesting violently. She is clutching her stomach when Jax bursts through the door.

"Holy shit!" He exclaims when he sees her and does an inspection of her. She's confused at first, but she realizes that some of Calvin's blood is one her bare stomach. "It's not mine. It's his. I couldn't stop him. I tried to talk to-"

"It's okay. It's all right." Jax soothes. "Where is he?"

"The bedroom." She watches as his eyes darken and he holds his hand out. "Give me that." He says indicating the gun.

Cheyenne passes it over and she follows Jax as he heads back into the bedroom.

She watches as Calvin seems to realize his fate and how Jax's body becomes stiff.

"Oh, shit. You stupid bitch. You pathetic whore. Once a biker slut, always a-" Jax marches into the room on his healing sore leg when the gun shot goes off.

She doesn't scream as Calvin falls to the floor with a gunshot wound to the head. In fact, Calvin is the last thing on her mind as she feels her belly spasm and warm liquid between her legs. She brings a hand down and looking at her fingertips, which are stained red.

"Jax," She calls out weakly as blood begins to stain the floor beneath. "The baby."


	21. Labor

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I'm back. I can't believe I am updating so slow we're still in the first season. I'm sorry. But I'm back in the writing mood. Fandom videos will help with inspiration apparently. And since I'm on season four I need a lot of it.

* * *

For some reason, Cheyenne is calm. Despite the blood and the fact she is in labor, she is calm. She thinks she has to be considering that Jax is currently freaking the fuck out. She clutches the wall in pain as a spasm – contraction – hits her body. She sees her stomach tighten and she can't help the whimper of pain that escapes her lips. She feels another rush of blood and it's then that she begins to panic.

"You need to call 911, Jax." She says through a pained groan. She isn't too sure if he is listening, but she hears him fumbling with his phone as he tells the operator the situation. She leans heavily against the wall. She works on regulating her breathing. She hears Jax slam his phone shut.

"Fuck, Chey, that's a lot of blood," he says hoarsely.

She reaches out blindly for him and he grabs her bloody hand. "I need help. They can't see his body."

Jax grips her and they make it to the front of the house as her belly keeps contracting. Jax leaves her and comes back with a towel as he wipes the blood off her belly and hands. He removes his sweatshirt and puts it over her frame. Even pregnant his clothes still flood her.

And Cheyenne knows her baby is trying to come out. She knows that he is distressed. Cheyenne knows that she put her baby boy in this situation with Calvin.

Those thoughts make it easy for the tears to start streaming down her face. "I'm so sorry, Jax."

"Hey, Chey, look at me," Jax says, but she can't. He cups her face and forces her to look at him and she is taken back by his own tears the stream down his face. "It's not your fault, babe. Okay. Whatever happens."

His words don't provide comfort as it only makes the tears come harder.

"The bleeding can we stop the bleeding…" Jax says as he eyes the watery blood.

Cheyenne shakes her head. They need medical tools and it's best to wait for the paramedics. "Jax, if something happens…you save the baby. You save Abel."

"Don't say that shit, Chey. Don't." Jax growls through his tears.

"I'm losing a lot of blood, Jax," Cheyenne tells him weakly and she begins to feel cold even with the hoodie wrapped around her frame.

"Chey, you and Abel are going to be fucking fine okay."

Cheyenne licks the salty tears off her lips as she nods her head as she squeezes Jax's hand as another contraction passes. Jax places a kiss on her head as they wait for the paramedics.

. . .

It all happened so fast.

The paramedics arrived and they had quickly put oxygen on Cheyenne as they transferred her onto the stretcher. There were words about blood pressure dropping, her being dilated, and emergency C-Section thrown around. And even through the haze of his emotions, he could have killed all the paramedics for not allowing him to ride in the back with Cheyenne as they took her to St. Thomas.

Everything escapes his mind as he follows the ambulance on his bike. He doesn't care that he is breaking traffic laws as he follows the wailing vehicle.

He can still smell Cheyenne's blood and all that blood. He knows the Cheyenne was telling him truths that she wasn't ready to hear. It was a lot of blood. Too much blood. He knew that even though he wasn't a doctor that it wasn't a good sign.

There was a very real chance that he would be losing his son before he even got to meet him. He doesn't care where he parks his bike as the ambulance finally stops at the emergency entrance at St. Thomas.

He throws his helmet down as he rushes to where they are unloading Cheyenne, who is screaming through her oxygen mask. Jax tries to rush towards her, but they hold him back.

"Sir, you need to take a step back."

"The hell, I'm the father," he shouts as he watches Cheyenne squeeze the paramedics hand as she is hit with another contraction.

Cheyenne looks at him with frighten grey eyes and he can see the blood between her legs already is staining and spreading over the blanket they placed over her.

Her other hand reaches out for him, but another contraction hits her, which steals all her breath and strength.

"Guys, I'm in rapid labor," Cheyenne says after the taxing contraction. "I think I'm crowning. I'm going to need to push soon."

The paramedics then begin to work in frenzy and as they enter the door they are greeted by Dr. Reed. Dr. Reed gives him an assuring smile, and he finds a blue flimsy protective gown.

"You might want to wear that, Dad, as I feel this will be a fast delivery." Dr. Reed tells him as she takes over from the paramedics. He puts it on with the help of a nurse before he takes Cheyenne's cold hand as they rush to the emergency room.

Somehow Cheyenne is able to tell Dr. Reed everything she is feeling as she squeezes his hand through the pain she is undoubtedly in.

They barely have Cheyenne hooked up to the oxygen and blood pressure machine when she sits up. "I have to push. Now!"

And before Jax can even comprehend, form a coherent thought, or even be useful, Cheyenne has brought their son in the world.

This tiny screaming pink baby that despite being premature with a hole in his heart seems intent on letting the world know he is here, but before he can celebrate this miracle. His son is taken by the nurses and the sounds of a monitor beginning to go haywire before slowing down to flat lining takes his attention.

. . .

Gemma thinks she is lucky that she is at St. Thomas because she believes she may be having a goddamn heart attack. She is surprised she was even able to decipher Jax's words as he told her Cheyenne was in the hospital.

She had burst through the doors leaving Clay still parking his bike in the lot as she ran towards her son.

She finds him in a waiting room. Head down and clearly exhausted.

"Jax?" She calls out.

And her heart stops at the sight of her boy teary eyed and clothes wrinkled. He immediately brings her into a hug and she can feel him trembling. "It all happened so fast, Ma."

"What happened, baby?" She coos as she tries to sooth her baby boy. Cheyenne still had ten weeks to go. And knowing Cheyenne, despite the heart disease being passed down, Abel was never in distress.

Jax pulls back from her and wipes his eyes. "She was getting ready for bed and then there was blood. She delivered Abel –"

"Is he okay!" Gemma asks.

"I don't know. He was screaming, Ma. I got to see him before they took him. They're worried about his heart and lungs. He's so beautiful, Ma."

Gemma wants to rejoice about her grandson being born. She would do cartwheels down Main Street, but she knows she can't as her grandson isn't out of the woods yet and Jax hasn't mentioned one other person. "And Cheyenne?"

She watches as Jax's eyes become misty and he struggles to compose himself. "She was fine one minute and then she passed out. She lost a lot of blood, Ma. The doctor's won't tell me shit."

"It'll be okay, baby."

"I can't lose her, Ma. I can't do this alone." He sobs as he clutches her again.

"You won't have to," she promises her son.

. . .

Her tongue feels extremely dry and it takes her moment to even open her mouth is her lips sealed to have been sealed shut. Her eyelids are also heavy as she tries to open them. When she does she is blinded by the harsh lights of St. Thomas. She doesn't know if she had groaned or moaned, but she can hear voices and someone calling her name as they rouse her back to consciousness.

She is met with misty blue eyes before her face is attacked by warm lips over her face. Blue eyes are then replaced by a pair of bloodshot green ones and it takes a while for her brain to catch up with her that it's Jax, Lip, and Isla smothering her with affection.

"How are you feeling, Auntie?" Isla asks with wide eyes.

Cheyenne frowns as her mind tries to catch up to everything and why she feels so fucking stiff. And her hands move across her belly, which is exceptionally flat.

Then everything hits her like a tidal wave. Calvin, shooting him, Jax killing, and then the blood. The baby. Her baby. Abel. There was so much blood.

"The baby," she says hoarsely. "Where's the baby. Where's Abel."

She can hear the heart monitor begin to haywire as they give away her internal panic.

Jax swoops in as his one of his hands go to the back of her head and the other caresses her cheek. "Chey, you need to calm down."

"Where is the baby, Jax!" She asks hysterical. She's vaguely aware of Lip escorting Isla out of the room.

"He's fine, okay. He's in NICU." Jax tells her.

"How bad is it?" She can tell Jax doesn't want to her answer her. "Tell me!"

"He's 10 weeks premature. He has the family flaw and they're worried about his lungs." He tells hers. "He's got a 20 percent chance."

Cheyenne feels as if someone had driven a spike through her chest as she takes in the news. Her hand covers her mouth to try and contain her sobs, but it doesn't stop the tears that fall down her cheeks.

"This is all my fault." She tells him. She should have said something about Calvin earlier. She had put her baby in danger and now he was clinging for his life.

"Chey –"

"No it is." She insists.

Jax shakes his head as he somehow is able to fit onto her little bed as he holds her. "Everything will be okay."

Cheyenne isn't sure she believes him.

. . .

Cheyenne eventually falls into a fitful sleep. Jax doesn't want to leave her, but he knows that he needs to take care of the body that is in his house. Also he knows that he could use a fresh shower and that Cheyenne will need some clothes for when she is eventually discharged from the hospital.

Luckily, Lip doesn't question him when he tells him he is going to head home and shower. Get some space and clear his head.

Entering his home, he ignores the churning in his stomach at the sight of blood that trails the hallway. It shocks him how much blood a body contains and then there was the fact that this blood was of Cheyenne's and his son. That makes him burn with fear for his son. As he enters his bedroom, his fear turns into anger.

He walks over to the pale body that is turning stiff on the ground. He thinks he killed the man too easily. After all considering Cheyenne's half-dressed nature, it didn't take long to figure out what this man planned to do. And now his son was fighting for his life because of this bastard no doubt causing enough stress to Cheyenne's body to trigger an early labor.

Luckily, the man didn't fucking bleed out all over his goddamn floor.

Jax walks into the bathroom and rips off the plastic shower curtain and places it in the tub. Grabbing some forgotten leather gloves, he slaps them on and begins to move the man's body into the bathroom and throws him into the tub.

He sighs as he tries to figure out his fucking game plan from here. He knows that he is going to have to replace the carpet. Hell thinking on it, he might just have the whole house remodeled in regards to flooring and maybe paint a few rooms. He could write it off as changes for the baby.

He walks into the garage and grabs a tarp and duct tape. He knows right now that he needs to focus on the task in front of him. He needs to compartmentalize. He also needs a drink.

Grabbing a beer he heads back into the bathroom where he gets to work wrapping the man up in the shower curtain and the tarp and taping it all together.

After he is satisfied with that he goes to the laundry room where he searches for the large bottle of stain remover that he knows Cheyenne has in here.

He finds it right in front of his fucking face and he goes to pour the bottle on all the stains. He thinks as he watches the bubbles of the solution turn pink he knows why he feels so put off about cleaning this mess.

He doesn't regret it. After all, this man knew what he was doing coming back from Cheyenne. And if he needed to he would kill a hundred men for Cheyenne's safety. And he thinks that's the problem. His father is telling him that violence isn't the only way to this life they lead. Everything doesn't need to be answered in blood. Jax wants to turn the club to a legitimate club, but here he is killing a man.

He doesn't know how the two can co-exist. He doesn't know how to see this goal of his without the shedding of blood.

He knows that instead of killing Calvin, they could've called the police. It was a clear case of self-defense and even with his history the cops wouldn't need to look into the club. But the outlaw in him couldn't have this man alive. He couldn't have this man do simple time for terrorizing Cheyenne. After all it wasn't just Cheyenne anymore. They had a son that got in this crossfire.

And despite his father's words that there needed to be forgiveness, Jax finds that he doesn't have any for this man. He is scrubbing the stain in the hallway when his body tenses as he hears the locks to his front door click. He stands up and his hand immediately goes to his gun in the back of his jeans when his mom walks through the door.

His mom looks confused at his tense posture and she doesn't miss how his hand was hovering behind his back. She doesn't question him on it though.

"What are you doing here?" She asks him.

"I came to take a shower, but I got distracted doing this."

She tsks at him. "You shouldn't be focusing on this."

Jax shakes his head.

"What happened wasn't yours or Cheyenne's fault." She tells him softly.

"I don't blame Chey." He states with a confused brow. What happened she had no control over. Even then, he was the one that passed down the family flaw and Calvin was responsible for the early birth.

"Did you see him yet?"

And Jax feels guilt. Outside of seeing his son being born, he hasn't. Even when he was whisked away and after the doctors told him about his state, the elation he felt was drained away. The doctor's weren't being optimistic and why torture himself with the image of this little boy he would never get to raise. And he knows when he told Chey everything would be okay she didn't believe him. Hell, he didn't believe himself.

They could lose their son. And he knows what could happen to them if they lost a child. He seen what he had down to his mom and dad. He knows if he loses Abel, he loses Cheyenne as well.

"He's not gonna make it."

His mom looks at him startled. "What are you talking about? What happened?"

"He was born with broken lungs and a hole in his heart. He's gonna die."

He isn't prepared for the hard slap his mom gives him that smarts like hell.

"Don't you say that. You don't believe he's gonna live, you might as well go and kill him yourself. Go tell Cheyenne these little happy thoughts of yours and explain to her how you've already giving up."

His mom hits a nerve and she can see it that makes her immediately back track. "I'm sorry. You gotta go see him, Jax."

"I don't know if I can." And Jax realizes that it's not that he's scared of the medical concerns that cloud his son that scares him. It's the fact he is a father. He is also an outlaw and he's not sure how the two can coexist.

"Because he'll break your heart? It's called being a father."

"For how long? A day? A week?"

His mom lights a cigarette as she takes a seat on the couch. "You know, you were born with that same heart defect... your little brother had. You seem pretty sturdy to me. I came through hell. Landed on my feet. Your father was hit by a goddamn semi, dragged 178 yards...and that bastard lived for two more days. Tellers do not die easy."

"No, we just die bloody."

"That's the Irish in us."

Jax joins his mom on the couch and for the first time he admits it aloud to himself and someone else. "I don't know what the fuck I'm doing, Ma."

"It'll work itself out. Besides if you did, I would be concerned." She says with a chuckle, which he joins in on. "Go take a shower. Freshen up. I'll look into how much carpets cost and shit."

"Thanks, Ma."

. . .

Jax makes his way back to St. Thomas and finds that Cheyenne is sleeping alone in her room. Considering it's nearing midnight, he knows Lip probably went home to feed Isla and get her to bed or Cheyenne kicked him out.

Despite the doctor's assurance that Cheyenne will make a full recovery, he doesn't cap his worry as he looks at her pale skin under the hospital light. It only reminds him of the fact that she lost so much blood.

He knows her clutching her belly and bleeding will forever be burned in his retinas. It would be something to haunt him forever.

Jax places a bouquet of daisies on her side table and goes to sit down when he finds Cheyenne's grey eyes staring at him.

"How are you feeling?" He asks her.

She doesn't answer him as she just stares at him for a long time like she is searching for something in him. Her grey eyes are turning dark and a brewing like molten silver.

"Babe?" He questions as he goes to run his hand through her hair, but she recoils from him as she leans up and looks away from him.

"Are you mad at me?"

"No," he tells her wondering why she keeps insisting what happened landed on her. "Chey?"

She shakes her head, but he can see the shaking of her shoulders as a broken sob escapes her throat. "I haven't even gotten to hold him."

Jax joins her on her bed as he wraps his arm around her. A sob shakes her sob. "I should've told you about Calvin sooner. Maybe this wouldn't have happened."

"Chey, don't go down that road. _Please_." He begs her.

For once she listens. She thinks maybe it's best for her to listen to Jax, but she thinks as a mother Jax can't understand the immense guilt she feels for not being able to protect their little boy.

He isn't able to understand the bond a mother and child has as it grows. The bond that is just between them and she couldn't protect the child she loves with her whole being. And to have that bond severed on terms that were out of her control was something that she couldn't even describe if she tried too.

And it is useless to go down that road of how she could have handled Calvin. Now it's futile, as Abel is here, and worst is that she had placed Jax in a position of killing for her, something she never wanted. She never wanted him to have blood on his hands for her.

She also thinks right now isn't the best time to be focusing on herself.

After all, half of Abel belongs to Jax. She knows this isn't easy for him either.

"I'm sorry if I scared you." She says into his chest.

"I was fucking terrified. Thought my own heart would give out." He replies.

"Would you've missed me?" She asks with a playful tone despite the situation.

She is rewarded with a low chuckle and she thinks that maybe they will get over this. "I would've been a fucking mess, Chey."

"You like me that much, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess I do." He replies with a smile.

"I'm sorry for putting you in that position with Calvin."

"Don't apologize for what happened." He tells her before he makes her look at him. "I'd burn the whole fucking world for you, Cheyenne."


	22. Primer

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** As always thank you for the reviews, favorites, and follows!

* * *

The following day, Cheyenne's room is filled with activity as the club visits. Jax is there for most of the day and when he isn't Lip and Isla are keeping vigil especially as Dr. Reed had told them that they would be proceeding with operating on Abel to fix the hole in his heart.

Now it's just her and Lip as Jax had to take care of the matter of what transpired in their bedroom before someone like his mother came being nosey.

"You want the Prospect to bring you some movies or something. The selection here sucks." Lip says as he flips through the channels.

"Well St. Thomas never boosted about being a five star hotel." She replies as looks at reflection in the mirror. Her hair is a matted mess all tangled and frizzy. "Although I wouldn't mind my conditioner or a shower sounds nice."

"Well you can Jax to play Sexy MD with you."

Cheyenne rolls her eyes at her brother. If anything she wasn't about to let Jax see her naked anyways, she felt frumpy at the moment and until she came to terms with this post-pregnancy body he wasn't seeing anything.

"How are you feeling?" Lip asks.

"I just pushed a human being out my vagina. How do you think?"

"No need to be sour." Lip replies. "Just asking."

"Right now, I'm just worried about Abel."

"You won't be any good to the boy unless you take care of yourself." Lip tells her. "I know it's a shitty situation, but we'll get through it."

"I know," she tells him and she tries to believe her words.

"Hey that boy has our and Jax's blood running through his veins. Don't give up on him."

"I'm not. There's just a part of me preparing for the worst too." It's the doctor in her. She knows that realistically she needs to be preparing for anything to go wrong. Despite the medical advancements of today and the skills of the doctors', sometimes things just happen.

. . .

Opie was quiet when they had begun painting. His brother didn't ask any questions as he asked for his help with some house stuff. His best friend even kept his mouth shut when they began pulling up the carpet and they both could clearly see the blood stain on the bottom.

Still Opie didn't say anything. Instead, they bullshitted around. Talked about some modifications they wanted to make with their bikes. Jax complained about Cheyenne's love for Christmas and how he is practically vomiting garland.

And Jax realizes his had missed this.

He hates to think he had sort of gotten used to the absence of Ope. And for some reason it unsettles him more than he would like to admit. He wonders if that was why Donna is so angry because she knows that she doesn't need Opie like she thought she did, but for some reason she can't let him go.

Jax shakes his head as the last thing he wants to think about to cloud the somewhat peaceful mood is his brother's marriage. Unless Opie sought counsel, it wasn't his place to really say anything.

Now the two of them are taking a break in the living room and sipping on their beer that Cheyenne always makes sure is stocked in the house.

"So how you doing?" Opie asks.

Jax knows he is referring to the birth of Abel. Jax shrugs his shoulders. Despite knowing that he was going to become a father and the nights admiring Chey's growing belly, it didn't prepare him for this. It all didn't really hit him that he was a father until he saw his tiny son brought into the world.

And now he wasn't even sure of how long being a father was going to last.

"I don't know man." Jax tells his best friend. "It's different knowing you're going to be a dad than being one."

Opie nods his head while he combs his fingers through his beard. "Yeah, but we learn. We all do."

"I just don't want to screw up."

Opie chuckles. "You won't. Besides look at Lip and Isla. He had to do that shit alone."

Jax nods his head. Lip was thrown head first into parenthood and Isla is turning out to become like Cheyenne. "Don't forget about you and Kenny and Ellie."

Opie snorts. "I can't take credit for that shit. That was all Donna."

"How she doing?" Jax asks.

"I wish I knew, but it seems one minute she loves me and then the next she's chewing my ass out for something." Opie tells him. "You and Chey have your first fight yet?"

Jax shakes his head. "No, things have been pretty good between us."

"So good that you committed murder for her?"

Jax almost spits out his beer at his words and coughs while Opie slaps him on the back. "What the hell?"

"Hey, no need to lie. Did you get rid of the body already?"

Jax sighs as he sets his beer bottle as he runs his hands through his hair.

Opie starts cautiously. "Look, what happened here is obviously between you and your old lady –"

"It's been taken care of Ope." Jax tells his best friend. He had already taken Calvin's body to the woods and dug the hole. He had burned and buried him. Jax knows that no one will look in Chipper woods for a shallow grave. If anything he was ready to put this behind him. He had more important shit to worry about.

"I just want you to know you're not the only one that cares for Chey." Opie says gently. "I just want to know if she's going to be okay."

"She will be." Jax tells him.

. . .

Heading home with a case full of beer as payment, Opie walks into his house ready to take a shower to wash off the paint and some of the worry for Jax and Chey.

He wasn't lying to Jax when he said that Jax wasn't the only one to care for Chey. Opie loves Chey like a sister. When he was locked up, he had always looked forward to her visits as she didn't make him feel depressed or angry about his situation. She also didn't show him pity or sadness that even his own brothers were guilty of. If anything, her visits were the only ones that managed to get him to smile and even laugh.

Cheyenne was the little sister he never had or gotten.

Now she was growing up with starting her own family and being a doctor. And Opie loves his brothers and the club, but there comes a point where his family needs to come first. He did five years for this club and it had done damage to his family.

Damage he was sure that would never be repaired as he looks at his wife, who is stalking up to him angrily. Any greeting he had dies on his throat as her blue eyes narrow into slits.

"What the hell is going on, Ope?" She asks angrily as she looks at the beer and then back to his face.

"Something came up. Jax needed me."

"The mill called. McCain says if you're not there to pick up the second shift, your ass is canned."

"I'll deal with it." He tells her as he had known his days at the mill were numbered anyways. The pay was shit and for a time he thinks he would be better serving tables.

"Deal with it how?" Donna questions. "You're not there, you're out of work."

"I've got something." Opie tells her and she watches as she realizes he means something going with the club.

She laughs bitterly and he is shocked when tears come out of her eyes as she clutches her belly and laughs. "You lying piece of shit. Your promises were just smoke, weren't they?"

Opie frowns as he watches his wife unravel. "No. I never lied to you. I said I'd find a way to earn straight."

"They're gonna fire you. The club more important than taking care of me and the kids?"

"No. It's more important than spitting sawdust 10 hours a day. I'll figure it out." He promises.

Donna shakes her head and the disgust is clear in her eyes as she clutches her car keys. "I'm not gonna live this way anymore. I'm done with this shit."

Donna doesn't give him a chance to respond as she rushes out of the house. Opie thinks this isn't what he wants for Cheyenne. He would hate to have to witness her devolve into his wife has. Opie feels bad that he doesn't seem to trust his best friend to take care of her, but this Life requires sacrifices from the women more than the men. He doesn't want to see Chey slowly chip away and turn into someone like Gemma.

. . .

Cheyenne is left watching day time soap operas as Lip has left to pick Isla up from school and then take her to her dance practice. Jax had left a text saying he was on his way with some of the things she requested and food. And an hour ago, the doctors had informed her that Abel will have his surgery soon. So now she was patiently waiting on him when she is taken back by Margaret Murphy and David Hale walking into her hospital room.

Cheyenne plastered on a fake smile as she tried to drown out the worry that she is linked back to Calvin.

"Hey, Cheyenne, how are you feeling today?" David greets with.

"I've had better days."

"I just talked to Dr. Namid he has high hopes for Abel. They're getting ready to scrub in," Margaret adds.

Cheyenne nods her head. "Is everything okay?"

"Calvin Richards never made it home," Hale states bluntly. "Even with canvassing we haven't been able to make a timeline."

Cheyenne hides her relief at her words. At least that meant there was no way to tie her and Jax to this man's disappearance.

"Should I be worried?" She asks them.

Hale gives her a grim smile. "It's hard to say, but I thought it was best you should be forewarned."

Cheyenne nods her head. "Thanks for letting me know."

. . .

Gemma practically moans as she feels the caffeine energize her body. She had gotten a fitful sleep as she worried about the fate of her grandson and son.

She traces a hand over her damaged heart and she curses her family genes. This family flaw had taken her brother, son, and now possibly her grandchildren.

In times like this she thinks it's Karma from God and even her mother that she might never be able to achieve her dream of having a very big family. Sure, she had the club and they were her family, but it still wasn't enough to fill that hole – void.

And she knows at times, she tried to have Jax make up for that love she craved from Thomas and children that were never born and she was wrong for it. And she thinks it's Karma for the sins of her life she leads.

But even if she had abandoned her own mother and father and church and maybe some of her faith, nothing would shake the love for her son and grandson and she knows that Abel will pull through. He has too.

She can't think of the alternative.

She grabs the paper as to kill time as she drains her mug and checks to see the PR of the club, local holiday festivals she is sure she can add a booth for SAMCRO at the last minute. She almost misses it the small blurb on the bottom of the page. She knows she would've if it wasn't for the picture of an older attractive man smiling.

Gemma pushes her reading glasses up as she reads the details of a Dr. Calvin Richard's disappearance from Charming as he is wanted for misconduct in the workplace.

. . .

Jax is surprised security let him through with this big bag although he thinks even if he did get stopped it wouldn't stop him from getting the items requested by Cheyenne to her.

He makes it to the room and he expects to see her in bed, but it's empty.

"Chey?" He calls out.

"I'm in the bathroom." He hears as he walks forward and places the items on her side table.

He walks to where the door is closed as hears the toilet flush before the sink turns on. "You okay in there?"

"I'm fine." She calls out.

The door opens and reveals Cheyenne. It seems her healthy glow is returning, but she can't hide the wince as she moves to go back to the bed.

"Should you be walking?"

"Jax, I'm fine. I've been in bed for a day already." She tells him as she looks in the bed and immediately grabs the hot food.

"I just want to make sure you're not overexerting yourself." He tells her as he walks next to her and helps her on to the bed much to her displeasure.

"Thanks for the food and stuff. I can't wait to shower."

"You gonna need help with that?" Jax asks with a waggle of his eyebrow.

She looks at him with a raised eyebrow and mouth stuff full of French fries. "I think I can manage on my own. Besides I look and feel disgusting."

"You're beautiful Chey." He tells her.

Cheyenne snorts.

"Hey," he says as he grips her chin. "I mean it. You're fucking beautiful."

"Even with all this flubber?" She questions after she swallows a large bite of her food.

"You just had my fucking kid, Chey. If anything it makes me want you more." He tells her. Relief shines through her grey eyes, but he can tell there is something else brewing in her eyes. "What is it?"

"I can't do anything for like two months…and –"

"Stop," Jax says shaking his head. He doesn't even want Cheyenne to even continue that thought and he wasn't even sure why they were even having this type of conversation.

"Jax, you're surrounded by skinny, _somewhat_ pretty women. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but –"

"Cheyenne, I don't want anyone else's pussy, but yours." Jax tells her bluntly as he doesn't know any other way to say it. "You don't need to be worrying about this shit."

"Well I can't help it." She mutters.

Jax steps forward and leans forwards and presses a kiss to her lips. He hopes that it will erase some of her doubts and worries, but if anything just make her feel good about herself.

Pulling back he can tell she is still skeptical, but she has a resigned acceptance to it.

Jax takes his portion of the food and sits in the visitor's chair.

"So Hale and Margaret came by today." She tells him.

"And what did they want?"

"Told me about Calvin's disappearance."

"None of that shit will blow back on you," Jax assures her.

"Did you tell Opie?"

"He figured it out on his own." Jax tells her simply.

"I never wanted to burden you with this, Jax."

"Do you trust me?" Jax asks her.

"Of course I do," she replies instantly. "I just worry."

"There's no reason to worry, darlin'." He tells her. After all, they are just getting started.

And Cheyenne knew that he was going to say that, but worry was just a byproduct of being with Jax. After all, there was the threat of jail and death. And being with him, she was going to have to tap into a strength she didn't know she could possibly have or even possess. A strength that was rare, but she could see how it could twist people.

She didn't know how Gemma did it in this life or even having to survive with John running into a semi and being dragged down the road to die two days later.

Cheyenne finds her hand being grabbed by Jax. Their flesh was drastically different. His hand warm and callous showed he was a working man. And he completely covered her smooth, cool flesh. And she finds it to be a forewarning on how this could progress between them. That Jax may become this encasing figure that crowds her and while Jax's calloused hand because smooth, hers may become rough.

"I'm going to take care of you – us," he promises.

Cheyenne can't find any words to counter with. So she accepts his words for what they are worth now.

A knock comes from the door and her gaze whips to the front of her room where Dr. Namid comes in.

Her throat tightens as she prepares for bad news, but the way Dr. Namid is carrying himself her heart begins fluttering madly.

"Is he okay?" Jax asks instantly and his hand tightens on hers.

"He's going to be okay. You have a tough little guy. The surgery was easy. No complications. He's down in NICU ready for a visit."

It's instant that Cheyenne bursts into tears as her little boy made it. She vaguely hears Jax thanking Dr. Namid before he exits.

"I need to see him," she says between her fresh hot tears.

. . .

With her bucket filled with cleaning supplies, Gemma thinks the least she can do is do some cleaning for her son and Cheyenne. And considering she isn't needed at the garage, she can kill some time as she waits for Abel's surgery to draw to a close. She knows how delicate and fragile her grandson's heart and body is right now.

Entering her son's house, she is assaulted by all the Christmas decorations, but she smiles thinking about how her son probably is feeling living in this Winter Wonderland. Gemma knows that she is some crude version of Martha Stewart, but she never went all out as Cheyenne has done here.

She places her cleaning bucket down on the kitchen table and does just a primarily walk through to see what needs to be done. She notes that her son has already gotten the blood stains out of the carpet and her nose wrinkles at the lingering smell of fresh paint as she enters the bedroom. She also notes the new carpet.

She furrows her brows at the sudden change in interior design.

She knows Cheyenne had lost a fair amount of blood, but she didn't think it had stained the carpet to the point it needed replaced or why the bedroom needed new walls.

Gemma was out of the loop on something and she didn't like it.

It was in her nature to go digging.

She doesn't know what she is exactly looking for.

She tries to think back when Jax was younger and where he would hide shit as a teenager. He was never the one to hide things in a box under the bed or a top of the closet. And she also had to factor in Cheyenne. If she knew about whatever it would be in the house, if she didn't, Gemma knows he would keep it far out her reach like in the garage.

The garage is a mess and filled with boxes. She doesn't even know where to start, but Jax is his father's son and when she wanted to find something she only had to go looking into John's Harley stuff as after all that was where she found John's love letters to his underage Irish pussy.

And it doesn't take long, only the third box, where she finds a towel buried deep under scattered parts. In her bones, she knows what it is. After all, she bought the typewriter and was silent as she watched John lock himself away in the garage typing away his guilt and misery. She knew she could have intervened back then, but then she had moved on with Clay and she decided to let her first husband have something he could cling too. Almost like a final meal because deep down she loved John – still loves him in her core.

But the man she had fallen in love with had been purged away by a weak heart. It was a wonder to her on as to how she had the heart disease, but it had killed her relative healthy husband first.

As she looks at the singed pages licked by angry flames, she knows John wasn't going to die without poisoning Jax as he had claimed she was doing to him in their last fight with each other.

. . .

Jax had managed to secure a wheelchair for her to visit Abel. As he pushed her down the hallway to their son it was quiet despite the buzzing of doctors and nurses.

Her hands tremble and her heart races as they get nearer. Jax is equally quiet behind her.

He pushes the door open as they reach the room and rolls her in.

Cheyenne doesn't even know how to describe it seeing her son in an incubator with various tubes connected to him to allow him to survive.

"He's so small," she whispers to Jax as she stands up on shaky legs to get a closer look. She looks up to find Jax staring intently at their son. This baby boy they created together. A boy that will hopefully be the best parts of her and Jax and for some reason a warmth fills her belly.

Jax looks over at her, his eyes misty, and his arm comes around her shoulders and she allows herself to be pulled into him. His warmth crowds her and she welcomes it.

"He's beautiful," Jax says.

"He's perfect."


	23. It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I'm a terrible writer as it's a character's birthday in this chapter and we don't even celebrate it. And I'm really tired so it's probably a bad time to post this, so I imagine there is a lot of grammar and spelling errors in this.

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Jax steps into the house and throw his keys on the side table as he takes off his shoes. It seems instead of fucking snow that they are getting thunderstorms. For the past couple days, him along with the guys have been forced to use their cages to get around as the rain has been relentless. Jax had taken the time to trade in his truck for one with a backseat and a little more kid friendly.

Taking off his soaked hoodie and kutte, Jax steps into the living room and a scowl instantly takes over his face.

"Didn't the doctor tell you to take it easy?"

Cheyenne doesn't even have the nerve to even look guilty as she steps down from her step ladder. After a lot of bitching, Jax had caved and at the last minute was able to find a real Christmas tree to put in their house. But he is not too pleased to find her still putting up Christmas gifts when she was supposed to take it easy after her release from the hospital.

"I'm fine, Jax," she tells him with a coy smile.

And Jax bites his lip because he isn't about to let her distract him especially since her 6 weeks weren't up yet. He also knows that she is trying to cope by distracting herself from the fact Abel is going to be in the NICU for at least 10 weeks or even longer.

He hears her snicker as she approaches him and she places a soft kiss to his lips.

"I made cookies," she tells him.

He raises an eyebrow. "You're a baker now?"

She punches him in the arm for his joke as a pout takes over her features, "I burned all of them just for you."

Jax gives her a smile before she pushes him onto the couch as she heads into the kitchen.

Jax sinks into the couch and he looks over at the grand Christmas tree decorated in lights, tinsel, and various bulbs in green, purple, gold, and red. His eyes drift down to the various gifts that he is surprised that even managed to fit under the tree. He knows most of the gifts are for Isla though.

His attention turns back to Cheyenne who comes in with the plate of cookies and a glass full of milk for him.

"Thanks, babe," he tells her as he leans up and takes the glass from her and balances the plate on his lap. He sees she has made chocolate chip and peanut butter. He knows Cheyenne must be bored if she is baking. He makes a mental note to Lip that he should probably drop by with Isla and even tell Fawn to stop by. He knows Cheyenne isn't going to say anything.

He downs two of each easily as he dips them in milk. As he goes for the fifth he realizes that Cheyenne isn't eating any.

"You gonna have one?" He asks as he holds one out to her.

She shakes her head. "I already munched on a few breaking my new diet."

Jax's brows furrow instantly. It's been barely two weeks since she gave birth and Cheyenne is mentioning the word diet. "New diet?"

She nods her head. "Yeah, like eating moderately. Exercise."

Jax doesn't know why, but he feels anger bubbling in his gut. It's as if she completely disregarded what he said in the hospital. He places the plate of cookies on the coffee table, "You're beautiful Cheyenne. That hasn't changed."

He watches a slight blush come across her cheeks, but she rolls her eyes. "You're supposed to say that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Jax, I really don't want to talk about this." She tells him as she wraps her oversized cardigan around herself.

"Tough shit because we are." He replies back.

Cheyenne bites her lip. "It's just…I just feel gross right now, Jax. That's all. You're…you look like an Adonis and I'm this."

"Is that all?" He asks her because in a way he doesn't know how to help her outside of reassures and maybe eating this whole plate of cookies to prove a point.

Cheyenne sighs and she turns her gaze to the Christmas tree. "You know it would kill me if you were sleeping with other women."

"I haven't been with anyone since we started this." He tells her truthfully.

Cheyenne finally looks at him with her silver orbs, "It's a deal breaker, Jax. I can't –won't – tolerate the other women especially when I'm raising our son."

"I know that." Jax tells her. "C'mere."

Cheyenne easily falls into his arms and he hugs her tightly to him and he can't help but trace her body with his hands. "Besides, if anything I have more to grope now."

" _Jax_!" She replies through a giggle.

. . .

Cheyenne is reading over Abel's charts when Margaret Murphy walks through the door.

"I just spoke with Dr. Namid, says Abel here is doing great."

"Yeah," Cheyenne says fondly as she looks down at her little boy. Her arms yearn to hold him, but if all goes well she could be in four weeks, but it still would be longer before her little boy will be home.

"How are you doing?"

"Okay," Cheyenne tells her.

"And how's Jax?" Margaret asks tightly.

Cheyenne purses her lips as she isn't surprised that Margaret has an opinion about her relationship with Jax. After all everyone has an opinion about Jax and the club. She's been used to this all her life, but now it's different as she is connected to the club through a child – for producing an heir to the throne.

"He's good. Although the real challenge will come when Abel is home." She tells her boss politely.

Margaret gives her a strained smile before she steps closer to Abel. She can tell the red head wants to say something. Cheyenne didn't have a problem with the hospital administrator. Margaret was good at her job and considering Cheyenne's unexpected pregnancy she had been very helpful and making sure she would still be able to obtain her licensure in a timely fashion.

Yet, she knows Margaret is a little bit nosey and haughty. She's judgmental and not very good at hiding her distaste for people or one to hide her opinions.

"I know that this isn't my place, but I just want you to know that a baby is a very big responsibility." Margaret begins.

"I know that."

"This child relies on you for support, comfort, love, and protection."

"Margaret, I would appreciate it if you would get to the point."

"Jax lives in an unstable environment," Margaret states bluntly. "You're a brilliant doctor with a bright future and I would hate to see you and your baby sucked into an unhealthy cesspool."

Cheyenne furrows her brows and at a loss of words.

Margaret pauses as she purses her lips. "I didn't mean for that to come out like that. I just want you to be truly aware of the choices you make because your little boy is going to have to live with them not you."

"I appreciate your concern." Cheyenne says stiffly.

After Margaret's unnecessary visit, Cheyenne stomach begins to rumble and reluctantly she has to leave Abel. She is walking down the hallway when she is taken back by the sight of Opie and Jax leaving a room that is not Abel's.

"Hey," Jax greets as he presses a kiss to her lips. "You leaving?"

Cheyenne nods her head and gives Opie a nod. "Yeah about to get something to eat." She says slowly as she looks at Jax with a silent question.

Instead Jax throws an arm around her shoulder as he leads her further down the hall with Opie following behind. "Whatever you guys are up to you better not be late for tonight." She tells them both with narrowed eyes.

"We won't be." Jax promises as they walk her to her car.

She is still skeptical even as Jax presses a kiss to her lips and slides her a couple 20s. "Promise you'll be careful."

Jax nods his head as Opie throws her a smile.

. . .

Even though it is hard, Cheyenne has to leave her boy to spend the holiday by himself surrounded by doctors and nurses and other babies.

It hurts, but she thinks about how next year little Abel will be home to celebrate his first Christmas with her and Jax and his family.

But thankfully Fawn is there to help distract her from that ache and set up for the Christmas Eve dinner with Lip, Isla, Donna, Opie, and the kids. It was also a pre birthday bash for Isla as she was born on Christmas. It was a last minute idea from Cheyenne and considering that Gemma plans to monopolize their Christmas, it seemed better to have a low key celebration with her brother and best friend.

They are placing the dishware on the table as Fawn tells her about the gifts she had bought for Isla, Gemma, her mom, and Dawn. Cheyenne wrinkles her brows at that as despite Fawn's mom and sister only living in Galt, they rarely see each other. She's surprised that Fawn is even bought them actual gifts instead of sending a gift card like previous years.

"Are you going to see your mom and sister?" Cheyenne asks.

Fawn shrugs her shoulders. "We agreed to meet for the New Year, but usually Dawn bails after stealing my mom's or even my wallet. And my mom isn't much company to begin with."

Cheyenne frowns as she knows that Fawn doesn't really have a good relationship with any of her family members. Her sister is a kleptomaniac and pathological liar. Her mom had become bitter as the result to her marriage to Tig. And there wasn't anything to really describe Tig except as a Marine who hadn't been properly diagnosed with a mental illness.

"What about your dad?" Cheyenne asks softly.

Fawn bites her bottom lip as she shakes her head. "I got him some stuff. Don't know when I'm going to give it to him."

Cheyenne doesn't have anything to add or words to provide comfort because she wouldn't even know what to do if she actually had her parents in her life. Her Dad is dead and gone and her mother was off married and had created a new life for herself outside of Charming.

And if there is anything that Cheyenne will guarantee as a mother is she will always make sure her son knows that he is loved. And she knows that she can never abandon her child as her own parents did.

True to their word, Jax and Opie weren't late for the Christmas Eve dinner. They had arrived promptly at four while Lip, Donna, and the kids had arrived an hour earlier.

And Cheyenne didn't realize how much she had actually missed celebrating the holidays with her family. She had of course came back during her undergraduate for the holidays and was swept up into Gemma's annual parties. But once she went to Med school and began working her visits to Charming dwindled and she was left spending the holidays with patients and the workers on the graveyard shift.

Now it feels like it did when she was younger. She's wrapped up with Jax on their couch with Opie and Donna across from them while Fawn lounges on the floor and Lip is settled in the recliner. The kids are in the backyard playing with some firecrackers.

As Cheyenne looks around everyone has a smile on their face. Donna and Opie seem genuinely happy the first time in months. She even notices the discreet looks that pass between Lip and Fawn that they all decide to ignore.

She looks up at Jax, who is relaxed as his fingers play with her hair. She's happy to oblige him as she buries herself more into his side. Her head resting more so now on his chest than his shoulder and her arm drapes across his stomach. She ignores the gagging sound that comes from her brother as right now it finally feels like she has a home.

She isn't just bouncing back and forth from Gemma's and Piney's house as her parents had gone through rehabs and fights, it's not the temporary box of a dorm room, or even the student housing she rented in med school. This is a home she will build and grow with Jax and their family.

She brings her knees up onto the cushion and soon she feels her eyes fluttering shut.

"Tired, babe?" She hears whispered into her ear.

Her grey eyes flutter open and she finds Jax's blue ones staring down at her in amusement, but she feels the throw on the couch come down and cover her body.

"It was from all that food." She tells him as she feels as if she has a food baby now.

She feels Jax chuckle as he reclines further on the couch and allows her to lay out on the couch as she uses him for a body pillow.

"I wish we had a photo of this," Donna says from her stance on the couch.

Jax flashes a smile while a blush erupts. "Don't forget we have the guest rooms." Jax reminds them.

"Well it is getting late," Donna says as she eyes the clock. It's nearing 10 and the kids are still wound up with energy and they all still need to drive up to her parents.

"Let them tired themselves out," Opie says.

Donna doesn't object and soon they all begin to laugh as snores are heard and they turn to find Lip snoring in the recliner.

"You want to go lay down?" Jax asks Cheyenne. "I can handle the home front."

"Are you sure?" She asks.

He nods his head. She goes to move off him, but his phone begins going off along with Opie's and Lip's.

. . .

Jax did not expect his Christmas Eve to end the way it did.

After scrambling to get the remaining 55 k for the guns through Luann and him managing to hijack Oswald's truck for 15 for the Irish, he thought he would have been to get a breather.

He would be able to enjoy the holiday with his family and the club shit would be good since they were able to successfully pay the Irish and now meet customers' demands.

However, Jax should have expected club and family shit to explode at the same time.

He stands outside of the Irish Pub as he watches Half Sack drive away in his stolen ambulance carrying Cameron Hayes. Their new contact with the Irish as their old one, McKeavey, was apparently beaten to death. And of course to top of another successful business deal with the Irish, the man ends up getting shot in the ass. Thankfully, his President came out unscathed, but Jax thinks they severely underestimated how angry the Mayans were with them.

This was clearly an act of war.

"You think this hit was just about us? Or us and the Irishman?" Tig questions.

Clay looks as lost as the rest of them or he is still rattled by the attempted assassination. "I don't know."

"How would Alvarez know about the Irish?"

"Darby, man." Tig replies. "It was Darby. The Nords and the Mayans have joined forces. I saw it happening weeks ago when we blew up that warehouse. I told you we should've handled it then." Tig gloats. "This is Bloody Sunday, brother. We gotta call in all the Sons. All of them. Kill this cracker/wetback alliance now."

Jax knows that they all can read it on his face that he doesn't think a war is what this club needs right now. Because truthfully it isn't even if blood needs to be shed, he knows that they can't be going into this trigger happy.

"Tig's right." Lip speaks up quietly and firmly with Opie nodding in agreement.

"We need bodies, need guns." His best friend adds.

Jax sighs as he shakes his head.

"You with us here?" Clay asks him.

"We're not ready for war. We got no cash. We got no weapons surplus. Not to mention A.T.F.'s still in place." He watches as both Clay and Tig coil at his words.

"We can find cash and weapons." Clay interrupts. "The question is, are you with us here?"

"Can you give us a minute?"

"Yeah, sure." Tig agrees as he walks away with Opie and Lip.

Jax eyes his stepfather and thinks maybe things are all coming to a head. Things haven't been right since Lionel's bones were found. Hell Jax can even go as far back as to what happened with the clown rapist. "You think I'm distracted? All this shit with my kid and Chey?"

"I'm very concerned about your focus..." Clay spits out, "but I'm having serious doubts about your level of commitment to this club."

"I risked my life for 15 grand today because this club needed it. My commitment hasn't changed. And becoming a father - the damage that happened to my family? Yeah. I'm seeing things different. Big picture shit- For me, this club. But I ain't afraid to get bloody, Clay. I'm just afraid all that blood's gonna kill SAMCRO."

"Alvarez tried to assassinate me today. Right now, this is only about blood. And I'll worry about all that- that big picture sh1t... after this score gets settled." Clay replies hotly before walking away.

. . .

"You think we need to get bloody, huh?" Jax says to Lip quietly as they park their bikes in their respected space.

Lip sighs. "We can't let something like this go unanswered, Jax. What's up with you man?"

"What?"

"I was going to write it off as you getting with Chey and Abel, I think that is still part of it, but there is something else pulling you in the opposite direction of Clay and some of the guys." Lip explains. "And don't tell me your just thinking big picture. One day, I'm going to back you as President, but for me to do that I need to know where your head is at."

Jax opens his mouth, but Tig stands out by the office door. "Guys, we need surgical supplies."

. . .

"Well so much for Donna's and Opie's happy streak," Fawn mutters as they make their way into Buckhead – SAMCROs corner.

Any trace of sleep left Cheyenne's system when Jax, Opie's, and Lip's phone had rung it was something serious as they all left at the same time. Fawn was right about Donna's mood falling immediately. Donna had immediately rounded her kids up and she knew that Donna was going to spend a couple extra days up with her parents.

Yet, Cheyenne couldn't really focus on that as Jax had called and said they all needed to come to the clubhouse and she would need to be bring her medical supplies. They needed surgical tools. She knows whatever happened had to have been serious.

Fawn hasn't even put the car fully in park when the passenger side door is ripped open and she finds herself being brought into a crushing hug by Jax.

"What happened?" She asks as they pull back. She's vaguely aware of her brother grabbing Isla from the car with Fawn following as he leads them into the clubhouse.

"We're going into lockdown." Jax tells her. "There was an attempt against Clay tonight. A friend, Cameron, got shot. It's pretty serious."

Cheyenne sighs and begins to walk towards the clubhouse. "How serious?" She questions and they both know she isn't questioning about the gunshot wound.

"He's IRA."

Jax leaves Cheyenne in the chapel with Juice, Chibs, and his mom to handle Cameron as he waits at the bar with Lip next to him.

"Where's the girls?" Jax asks Lip.

"Isla's sleeping and Fawn was getting in the shower." Lip tells him.

Jax eyes Lip before his eyes move over to Tig, who is drinking a beer sitting on the couch. "She staying?"

"She's going to do what she wants," Lip says.

They both become distracted when the chapel doors open and Juice comes walking out with a goofy smile on his face. Jax rolls his eyes. "Everything good in there?" Clay asks from where he is leaning against the pool table.

Juice nods his head. "Cheyenne got the slugs out. She's patching him up."

Jax goes to get up, but Lip stops him. "I don't like this Jax."

"Like what?"

"My sister risking her license patching up a wanted terrorist."

Jax frowns as he looks at Lip. "This was only a one-time thing."

"Is it though?" Lip questions him.

"Chey isn't your concern anymore." Jax tells Lip tersely. At this point, Jax was tired of the push and pull with Lip. He loved Lip, he really did and he understood that Cheyenne was his sister and he would always have his brotherly concern he wasn't going to let that concern interfere with his relationship.

"She's not and why is that?" Lip says challengingly. And Jax knows where he is going with this. "She ain't tagged, Jax. So as far as I am concern she is my priority."

Jax eyes flash dangerously at Lip, but they aren't able to finish this conversation as Cheyenne comes out with blood staining an apron.

. . .

"You feel better?" Jax asks as Cheyenne steps out of the bathroom a cloud of steam following her. She's dressed in one of his oversized SAMCRO shirts and her hair is beginning to form their wild curls she barely lets anyone see.

"A little bit," she tells him as she walks towards the bed where he has already stripped down to his boxers.

"Thanks for taking care of Cameron."

"It's no problem Jax." She tells him as she settles under the covers and he immediately scoops her up into his arms. Her damp hair splays across his chest and she presses an ear to his chest and listens to his heartbeat. "Is everything going to be okay, Jax?" She asks quietly.

"It'll work itself out." He tells her as one way it will.

. . .

Jax wakes up to an empty bed, but he finds a note on the pillow next to him from Cheyenne stating she has gone to the hospital with his mom. Rubbing the sleep off his face, he switches into his signature attire before heading out to the kitchen for some coffee. He's surprised to find Piney up and at the bar and not drinking Tequila.

"How are you doing Piney?" Jax asks as he takes a seat next to the revered member.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Piney responds gruffly. "Chey said things are looking good for your boy."

Jax nods his head. "Yeah, we got ways to go before he can come home though."

"Better that he's there than in this shit," Piney points out.

Jax silently agrees. It's best that Abel isn't here in the clubhouse. It's bad enough he has to worry about Cheyenne out and about, but it's best for his son to be somewhere safe like St. Thomas. "Where you at with this?" He asks the old man.

Piney hums as he looks around the empty room. His eyes linger on the wall where past and current members' mug shots hang proudly. He looks at all the members who passed away from the cub's enemies. "What Alvarez and Darby did needs to be settled no doubt about it. But having such a big production about it isn't either. Darby and the Nords we can handle. The AB won't come down on us for a local beef. Nords are small and won't hurt supply and demand. But Alvarez, we don't need another Bloody Sunday. We don't have the members or bullets."

"We can't vote down retaliation." Jax points out.

"No, but how we can handle it."

Jax shakes his head. "They all want blood." He says thinking about Clay's words from last night. Clay isn't thinking about big picture.

"Well it's a good thing we got a VP with brains, huh."

Jax nods his head when he looks up at the camera and finds Unser coming in from the back door.

Jax stands straighter as Unser walks into the room, "What could I do for you, Chief?"

"Where's your Prez?" Unser answer tersely.

Jax doesn't get to answer as Clay walks in followed by Hap from the front door.

"I need to bring you down to the station house, ask a few questions." Unser says immediately to Clay.

Jax's brows furrow and Clay is even more confused.

"Why? What happened?" Clay asks as he approaches Unser.

"Someone went after Darby last night. Killed one of his guys, two women. At his house, in Charming." Unser emphasizes.

Jax almost laughs at this and thinks Alvarez left one messy trail of breadcrumbs that lead right back to him.

"You think it was us?" Jax asks.

"I also found two dead Mayans in a ditch off 18... half a mile outside of town. Last time I looked at the scoreboard... Nords and Mayans were the away team." Unser says grumpily.

"Glad you're rooting for the home team, Chief." Clay jests as he wraps an arm around Unser and leads him to the chapel.

"This ain't funny at all. Five D.B.'s. Know what heat that brings?" Unser exclaims.

Jax can tell the old man is becoming stressed with the job. Jax thinks it might not have been such a good idea for the club to push off the old man's retirement.

He watches as Clay opens the door to where Cameron is still resting on the table and instead of screaming he is passed out from the medication Cheyenne gave him.

"Who the hell is that?"

"Friend. With two bullets in his ass that were meant for my head." Clay replies as he closes the door. "The Mayans went after me too. We didn't have nothing to do with Darby. And the dead Mexicans were the results of their own stupidity. But I made sure that didn't land in Charming."

"Barely." Unser proclaims. "My office still got the stink of A.T.F. This body count's gonna bring that haughty bitch circling back. I need you to come with me. All right? Due process."

Clay shrugs his shoulders. "I got nothing to hide."

. . .

"Thanks for what you did for the club last night," Gemma tells Cheyenne on their way over to St. Thomas.

Despite Gemma being a mother figure to Cheyenne and raising her like she was her own, this is the first time that the two women have really been alone since she came home. Even since Cheyenne had all but practically become Jax's old lady in everything, but name.

And even if the two women won't admit, they both know their relationship has changed.

Cheyenne remembers how Gemma was with every girl that had entered Jax's life. It had always seemed Gemma needed to assert dominance over the girls and remind them that she was the main women in Jax's life. At the time, Cheyenne never thought anything of it. She thought it was Gemma's way in coping with Jax growing up and not needing his mother all the time. But Gemma was different with the croweaters and sweetbutts than when it came to someone like Tara. Cheyenne never understood why Gemma hated Tara so vehemently. She knows when the relationship was burning out between Jax and Tara she could see where Gemma's animosity was coming from. Tara was hurting Jax emotionally, in the mother's eyes, but at the same time Jax and Tara were young – were kids. And now Cheyenne is no longer a family friend. She is a woman that is with Jax. She is a woman that is going to be at Jax's side to guide him through this Life. She is a woman that could ultimately hurt Jax.

Gemma sees a different Cheyenne from the one that left Charming nearly 10 years ago. Cheyenne had lived a life outside of the club. With neglectful parents it makes it easy to always find a new home and in a new town. It would be easier now that Cheyenne has a job as a doctor that could take her places anywhere she wanted to go. But even more, Gemma is worried that with Jax finding the manuscript and the uncovering of Lionel's bones it could have Cheyenne whispering a perspective in Jax's ears that would unravel the thing she had tried to build for 20 years.

"I was glad to be able to help Jax and the club." Cheyenne replies.

"And what happens if the club needs help again?" Gemma asks.

"If Jax wants me to help again then I will."

Gemma raises an eyebrow at that. It seems Cheyenne has been paying attention all these years. "You know this changes things with you and Jax – the club."

"I know." Cheyenne replies. She knows that she is edging in old lady territory and she is going to be handled and treated like an Old Lady. She is now only an extension of Jax. And even though it rubs her feminism the wrong way she is by all means his property.

"Have you and Jax talked about that yet?"

"About what?"

"Making things more _permanent_." Gemma says.

Cheyenne shakes her head. "We have other things to worry about."

"You're not pregnant anymore, sweetie. Those girls are going to think Jax is free dick if something isn't done." Gemma warns.

"I trust Jax." Cheyenne tells her.

Gemma raises an eyebrow and doesn't add anything else.

. . .

Considering that the lockdown is being initiated, Cheyenne doesn't get to stay as long as she likes to visit her baby as she and Gemma as whisked away to buy food and drinks for the temporary arrivals. And she can tell Gemma is beginning her introduction course on how to be an Old Lady.

With Jax gone for most of the day handling the transport of Cameron to a safe house, Gemma made sure she was visible in greeting the visiting patches and to let them know that she was with Jax. And Cheyenne is surprised to find how exhausting socializing is and is thankful for the reprieve.

She is hiding in the gym where surprisingly no one is at as she eats in the silence for a little bit. Her solitude is broken however when Cherry comes in.

"Oh sorry, I was just looking for trash."

"It's fine." Cheyenne replies with a smile. "Sit. Take a break."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah because I'm sure you can use a break from Gemma."

Cherry huffs as she takes a seat on a workout bench.

Cheyenne is confused on how it works between Cherry and Gemma knowing that Clay has been with Cherry or even for Kip and Cherry. It's confusing, but Cheyenne thinks maybe its best not to linger on it. But she knows that she couldn't look at an open betrayal and not feel anything.

Yet, she knows Cherry is trying to become an Old Lady. Knows that she wants to make Kip proud to have her on his arm. Cheyenne finds it endearing and sweet. The two are obviously in love and in the back of her mind she knows that once they find a comfortable rhythm with each other Cherry will be running that relationship.

"How are you and Kip?"

Cherry flashes a bright smile that Cheyenne is sure she needs sunglasses for. "We're doing really good. Great."

"That's good. He's a nice kid."

"Yeah. He's worried he won't get his patch, but I know he will."

"Well he's survived so far. I'm pretty sure he can survive these remaining months." Cheyenne adds optimistically.

"Yeah. He'll get it. I know he will. How are things with you and Jax? Congratulations on the baby by the way."

"Thank you, but we're doing good. Although we don't have the baby home yet so that could change things," Cheyenne adds with a laugh that Cherry joins in on.

"Well I can tell you that the girls are very jealous."

Cheyenne shakes her head. "I've already been warned they'll be out for blood now I'm no longer pregnant."

"I think you'll be fine. Of course, there is the occasional bold croweater, but most of the time we – they – follow the lead of the patch." Cherry tells her.

. . .

"I don't think it's right for Opie to be doing this hit," Lip says to Jax as they leave the picnic table and go to enjoy the rest of the party.

Even if Jax has those same feelings, they already voted on it and there ain't much to be done especially as Opie wants to do it.

"I should be there man," Lip adds.

Jax nods his head as he agrees, but he knows Clay put Bobby in instead as a neutral party.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Lip asks.

"I never want to off someone, bro, but we owe it to the Irish." He tells him with a shrug of his shoulders as they enter the clubhouse. His eyes scan the room for Cheyenne.

"Dude, where is your head at?" Lip says tried of the lukewarm answers.

Jax raises an eyebrow at Lip and then points to where Cheyenne is sitting with Cherry and Half Sack, who is clearly looking at for Chey as some hang around talks to her. From that act alone, one nut may earn his top rocker.

Lip does his infamous gagging noise that Jax ignores as he walks over to Chey and he is really appreciating the black leggings she has on over a cream colored off shoulder oversized sweater.

"Dude, it hasn't even been six weeks yet." Lip mutters.

Jax flips him off as he surprises Cheyenne with a possessive dominating kiss that results in throwing her over his shoulder as he takes them back to his room.

. . .

"Fucking hell," Jax heaves as his head falls back onto his pillow as the blood tries to rush back up to his head.

Jax honestly didn't expect anything to happen when they got back to the dorm room. Him kissing her and throwing her over his shoulder was just a sure way to announce that Cheyenne was off limits. He knows that she knows that too.

"Was that okay?"

Jax blue eyes connect with Chey's grey ones and he smirks at how flush her face is and how her lips are even a little bit swollen. He slides her up his body and brings her into a filthy kiss and he can taste himself and he finds that he doesn't mind it.

"It was more than okay." He tells her.

"Well Merry Christmas then."

"Best gift ever. Outside of Abel," he tells her.

"Well don't make it too hard for me or I won't be able to top next year."

Jax flashes a lecherous smile. "Speaking of Christmas, I have a gift here for you."

"Huh?"

Jax slides up bringing Chey with him and leans over and rummages through his top drawer and brings out the gift that the sale's attendant wrapped for him.

"Well now this is unfair." She says as she eyes the box.

"Open it." He presses.

Cheyenne looks unsure, but she unwraps the box delicately and slowly opens it. He watches as her eyes widen before they become misty.

"Jax…"

Jax traps his bottom lip between his teeth as he watches her reaction. "Do you like it?"

She nods her head as she places the box on his chest and picks up the silver floating locket heart key necklace with the letter A with a topaz diamond stud on it. He was lucky he found the gift as he had actually taken Isla to do some Christmas shopping and she had wanted to go to some jewelry store to buy a new chain for her dad when it came across this necklace. The other gift was a two hand-finished, interlocking hearts in sterling silver and 14K gold two-tone ring. It was a simple gift and didn't cost much, but he felt that Cheyenne would love them.

"Do you like them?"

Cheyenne's teary eyes look up at him, "How could you even ask that? I love them Jax." She slips on the ring easily and he notices it goes on her left hand on her ring finger and he helps her with the necklace. The locket looks bare with only Abel's initial and he finds that he has hope they will be able to add more.


	24. Lost

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I hate having such a filler chapter, but it does give us a chance to catch up with some of the other characters that may have been neglected in previous chapters.

* * *

Cheyenne is walking down the hallway donned in her light green scrubs and carrying her purse when she finds Jax in the dining room scouring through boxes.

She was surprised when she woke up to find him already out of bed and now she is surprised to even see him cleaning. She has noticed since the lockdown has been lifted, Jax has been tensed and somewhat distance. His mind seems to be far away.

"Hey," she greets.

Jax looks up from the box he is digging in and gives her a smile.

He walks over and plants a kiss on her lips. "Morning."

She gives him a smile and is glad that his mood seems to be better than it has been in the last few days. She looks over his shoulder at the cardboard boxes. "You looking for something?"

Jax runs a hand through his hair. "Yeah, an old Harley manual. Did you happen to go through these boxes?"

Cheyenne shakes her head. "No, I didn't touch anything. You sure it's here and not at the clubhouse?"

"Not sure," he says with a slight frown.

"Is everything okay, Jax?" She asks concerned as her hand cups his cheek.

His blue eyes roam over her and his hand grabs her and presses a kiss to her knuckles over the ring he gave her for Christmas. "Everything's fine."

Cheyenne isn't too sure she believes him, but she trusts that if there is something to worry about he would let her know. "I'll see you after work." She tells him before she presses another kiss to his lips. It manages to bring another smile to his lips as he brings her back for another one.

"See ya later."

Jax watches as Cheyenne throws him one last wave before she leaves the house. His shoulders sag as he doesn't particularly like lying to Cheyenne. However right now he needs to figure out where his head is at before he begins dumping shit all over Cheyenne. And his biggest concern is that he doesn't fucking know where his father's manuscript is at. He knows that he thought he was done with it after killing Calvin as murdering someone went against exactly what his father was advocating against. But Jax has come to the realization that for the club to move in the opposite direction things will have to get bloody.

And things will have to happen slowly. The men love the money too much and he knows it will be a hard sell so he needs a plan. He knows he needs to find more sources of income so guys don't get scared by the initial sting of losing the gun running income.

He knows it's going to be hard though.

He's sure he will have Opie and Lip in his pocket, but the other guys they've been outlawing for most of their life. Outlaw was all they knew. The blood and violence was second nature to them and he knows he can't just expect men to walk away from the only thing they know. He expects the mother charter will lose members.

But he knows his greatest advisory will be Clay.

Clay never was one to like change. And with almost 20 years as head of the table, Clay isn't going to want to give it up or really appreciate someone trying to change his legacy.

. . .

Isla and Ellie are sitting at their usual lunch table far away from the crowd and cliques that inhabit middle school.

Both girls weren't antisocial. Between the two of them, Isla was the more social out of the two. Isla was part of more groups and such, but most of that came from Lip being able to afford those things.

Yet even though the girls were only in their pre-teen years, they were very aware of how people viewed their families. It was the reason why the girls were either invited as out of fear of Gemma making a fuss they were excluding the girls or not invited for fear of the stink of the club threatening a good time.

Even though they were both young and not truly aware of the scope of the life they were being raised in, the girls weren't unhappy. They had each other and for now that was enough.

Besides both girls couldn't deal with the pity stares people have been giving them considering Isla's mom was a junkie and Opie was just released home from prison. It was better off to just be secluded from people anyways. Isla knows that she won't be friends with half these kids when they get older or enter high school.

However, Isla knows that she has thicker skin than Ellie.

She knows her friend wants to be involved in more things and for people to just be their friend.

"You okay?" Isla asks.

Ellie nods her head as she breaks apart her soggy tuna fish sandwich.

"You sure?" Isla presses as she isn't one to be bullshitted or lied too. She knows her friend isn't exactly okay.

Ellie sighs. "Mom and Dad are fighting again."

Isla hums. She remembers those days with her own parents despite being young. Although, it was more so of her mom screeching at her dad, who would be sitting down taking the hits and screams calmly.

She only knows about this as she would always peek out in the hallway when her parents would begin fighting. She doesn't remember how most of the fights would start. She knows the majority of them would be about the drugs her mom would use. She knows though once her mom began drawing blood, her dad had hit his limit and she remembers him shaking his mom hard like a rag doll. He only stopped because she had walked out and gasped at the scene. It was then she found herself moving into a new house with her dad.

So she knows that Ellie could have it worse. She can never see Aunt Donna's and Uncle Opie's marriage go rotten like her own parents.

"They'll work it out." Isla says. "Do you know what it was about?"

"I think whatever happened during Christmas Eve."

Isla nods her head. Despite her dad trying to shield her as to why they had to stay at the clubhouse during Christmas and her birthday, she knows something serious happened that required her aunt's medical skill. After all, they couldn't hide the bloody chapel and when they had taken some Irish man out of there to rest in the dorm before transporting him somewhere else.

However, both girls' attention is taken by everyone becoming quiet.

Isla and Ellie look over to the entrance of the terrace and both are surprised to see Tristan Oswald back in school. It's been months since the girl was hurt and at this point she thinks it might have been better for the girl to be homeschooled.

"We should ask her to sit with us," Ellie says as they look at Tristan unsure of where to sit.

Isla brings her hand up and waves the girl over.

. . .

Lip makes the familiar trek to Abel's room as he navigates through the halls of St. Thomas. His heart breaks for his little nephew and sister, but it seem the little guy is eager to go home as he gets stronger every day.

A smile comes over his face as he can't wait for his nephew to be home. Now Lip loves his daughter, but he isn't ashamed to admit that he had always wanted a little boy. He knows that it'll never come to fruition. He's fine with that. He can't imagine having any more kids and Isla seems fine in being an only child. So he's glad that he will be able to bestow all his knowledge and wisdom he can't share with his daughter unto his nephew.

Lip goes through the door and glances through the window and he stops in his tracks as he finds Fawn in the room reading to Abel.

Since he and Fawn decided to cool the brakes on whatever they are, they had kept a respectful distance from each other. It was hard for Lip as he did find himself missing the crazy raven haired woman. However, the time away gave some clarity.

He knows that he loves her. He really does. But Fawn has a lot going on with her and he would love to help her try to maneuver through her confusion and doubt, but she needs to figure out on her own what she wants. Even though she can't see it yet, he knows for her to do that she needs to probably make amends with her dad and leave Charming. And Lip isn't a selfish man. He would never force his life on someone or hold them back and that is why he finds it easy to let Fawn go. He loves her enough to do that.

Lip enters the room with a small smile on his face. "Hey."

Fawn greets him with one of her own as she closes the book. "Hey."

"How's the little guy?"

"Seems good. Looks a lot like Jax." Fawn says.

Lip can see it. Abel possesses everything about Jax except Abel's blue eyes seem to be turning into that steel grey his sister possesses.

"How you've been?" Lip asks.

"I'm okay. I'm about to head out and see my mom and sister." She informs him.

Lip bristles at the thought of Colleen and Dawn, he was still confused on how Colleen and Tig managed to even settle down, get married, and pop out two kids.

"I know, I'm nervous myself."

"When's the last time you've seen them?"

"Few months."

"Well it might be good for you to get away for a bit."

"You think so?"

Lip nods his head. "Yeah time away always helps clear the head."

Fawn gets up and brings him into a tight hug.

. . .

There is still awkward tension between him and his kids. Opie doesn't know how to exactly navigate it and he feels that every time he tries to make some headway, he ends up making a fool of himself. So he's even nervous now as Donna has ended up working an 12 hours and considering he quit the mill and is back at Teller Morrow, he is able to maneuver his hours to work in his favor.

So now he is left looking at burnt macaroni noodles while his kids look at him with a raised eyebrow in disbelief that he can't do such a simple task in cooking.

"Uh…sorry, guys." He apologizes as he throws away the noodles.

"It's okay," Kenny says as he frowns. "What are we going to have now?"

"Pizza?" He questions and both kids nod their heads.

Opie quickly makes the pizza order as his kids trail back into the living room to watch TV. Usually he wouldn't follow and he would just tinker around until someone needed him. Despite 6 months in being home, his kids still go to their mother first when they need something. She is the preferred parent. And it doesn't hurt him because he knows that Donna is an amazing mother. It just hurts that he is barely a parent to his kids.

So he follows the kids back in the living room and he tries to find something to connect him with his kids. Trying to find the one hook that he could snare and open a connection with. But his mouth is dry and his tongue is numb.

Hell, he isn't even sure as to what Donna used to say to explain to the kids as to why he was gone for five years. But in the end it isn't even him that begins building the bridge to reconnecting.

"Hey, Dad, remember when you almost burned the yard messing around with fireworks?" Ellie says speaking up.

And that is all it takes for Kenny to abandon the TV and look at his Dad earnestly to fill the gaps in the story.


	25. Better Half

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I didn't realize how short this chapter was. Sorry in advance for spelling and grammar errors. And as always thanks for reviews, favorites, and follows.

* * *

It's a quiet day at the garage. Considering ATF is looking for anything to grab onto these days, Jax decides it would be in his best interest that he actually uses a real power tool to earn some legitimate money. After all, Teller Morrow is a legitimate business and considering his plans it's in nobody's best interest to neglect the first source of legitimate income. He knows he surprises Wade, who was the opener today, but being there first, but Jax thinks the only reason he was here at the garage so early was because of Cheyenne. She had to do an early shift for St. Thomas and she was trying to clock as many hours she could before Abel came home.

He was worried that she might burn herself out, but he decides it isn't his place to intervene on Cheyenne's career unless it begins to interfere with their family.

So he arrived early and decided that it was best to start learning more about the management side of Teller-Morrow and keep up with his skills as a mechanic as he can admit he was pretty decent. He was good enough to earn himself a pay check.

So he found himself buried deep in work as guys trickled in and eventually Opie shows up and begins to work alongside him.

The two haven't really spoken since the hit on Heffner in Oakland.

Jax didn't think Opie was ready for that time of gig for the club. He wanted it to much to prove he was SAMCRO. Jax loved his brother deeply, but he was right in saying that he feared Opie might get sloppy with shit. He was tightly coiled these days and it seemed Donna hadn't heeded Cheyenne's advice in making things easier for Opie. And he thinks Opie hasn't had a minute to catch his breath since he was released.

"You haven't said much to me since Oakland." Opie starts.

"I don't got much to say, I guess." He tells him friend.

"You were right. I wasn't ready." Opie admits.

"It's done, bro." He tells his friend. But from the way Opie is sagging his shoulders he knows his friend is still stuck on that balcony. "You doing all right with all that?"

"I'm just a bit out of practice dealing with that shit, you know?"

"Yeah." Jax says as he thinks about his first kill and how he had lived hunched over a toilet for a few hours, but then Cheyenne was there and thinks even back then she made things easier to cope with. "You know, it's about something bigger, man. Club, family."

"And that got you past it?" Opie questions and Jax can see it that he is referencing to Calvin and how he murdered him in his own bedroom. And even though Jax is conflicted about how to change the club from it's outlaw ways and how his dad's words burn in his skull about blood not being the answer to everything, he knows that if anyone threatens his family – Cheyenne – he has no problem in spilling blood. So he replies with no hesitation.

"Yeah." He tells his friend firmly in the eye.

With a short break between appointments, Cheyenne finds herself at Abel's incubator and she knows with the pounds he's been putting on and how he is growing that her little boy will be out of the incubator very soon. However, her good mood about her son being able to find a home in her arms drops as she catches sight of Agent Stahl outside the room.

Cheyenne exits the room and stuffs her hands in her lab coat, "Can I help you?"

"Dr. Henderson, nice to see you again. May I, uh- May I ask you some questions?"

"Of course." Cheyenne replies with a tight smile as she leads them to a couch.

"I'm trying to wrap my brain around your history with Sam Crow."

"How is that?"

"Well, as we know, Dad was killed by who I presume to be your future father in law. Mom a junkie as well ups and leaves Charming leaving you in the care of Gemma and Clay, but has no problem moving on and apparently marrying a Russian by the name of Putlova. Brother is a member of the club has his own share of problems with a junkie for an ex-wife. You on the other hand were able to leave Charming for Med school. You graduated U.C.S.D. With honors. You were top of the class. Really very impressive."

"Yeah. I know. I was there." Cheyenne replies.

"Yes. And now you're here at St. Redneck's getting dirty with the bad boys and wound up pregnant. How does that happen? Hmm?"

"My personal life is really none of your business. What do you want?" Cheyenne says ending pleasantries.

"Fair enough. Do you know of any illegal activity that Jax Teller or the Sons of Anarchy are involved in?"

"No, I don't."

Stahl gives her a fake smile. "Well, that was easy. Well, listen, um, if you do think of something or you see something that just doesn't feel right - would you please give me a call?" The skinny blonde says as she hands her a card. "Thank you for your time, Doctor."

"What exactly is it you're hoping to find?" Cheyenne asks.

"Is that what Richards liked? Your inquisitive nature? He's M.I.A. Threw away his career for _love_. I just hope you're not doing the same, Doctor." Stahl warns.

Cheyenne knows better than to let a Fed get under her skin, but with the stress of Abel and the fact she mentioned Calvin, it's enough to loosen some screws, but not all of them. Yet, it's enough for Jax to notice as he strolls through the door not even five minutes later.

"It's all just smoke," Jax tells her as he tries to comfort her.

But she doesn't think this particular worry can be soothed away. This will always be a part of her life. Feds will always be looking for ways to take Jax and the club down for gun running and the other multitude of sins the club makes. She is always going to be subjected to questionings. Abel will now be used as some type of leverage to hold over her in choosing between her and Jax.

"She knows about Calvin," she tells him as she looks down at Abel. She hopes there will come a day that she won't associate Calvin with Abel's traumatic birth.

Jax seems a little taken back, but he hides any surprise quickly. "None of that will blowback on you. Calvin knew what was going to happen when he came up here."

"Guess I have you to thanks for being my Prince Charming, huh?" She asks him.

A smirk comes across his face as she steps forward and wraps his arms around her and presses a kiss to her cheek. "There's no need to thank me."

Cheyenne nods her head and laces her finger through Jax's as they admire Abel. "He may be getting out of the incubator soon. You sure you are going to be ready for that?"

Jax exhales a deep breath and his hold tightens on her. "Fatherhood seems scarier than the club." He reveals to her.

"We're in for one hell of a ride," she tells him.

"You're right about that, darlin'."

Before heading home for the day, Cheyenne is on her way to make one last visit to Abel when she stops in her track at the sight of Donna in his room.

Cheyenne gives Donna a smile, but she is confused by her presence. It wasn't as if the two didn't get along because they did just fine. Cheyenne was just aware that Opie and his family were going through a lot right now and Donna was mostly working trying to pay the bills and take care of her kids. She's also fairly certain that after what happened on Christmas Eve, the mother of two isn't happy that Opie has jumped back into the life.

"Hey, Don. Is everything okay?" Cheyenne asks as she steps into the room.

"The nurses said you were going to be in here. Is it okay that I'm here?"

"Of course. Abel's going to know you as his aunt anyway." Cheyenne tells her as she steps into the room and closes the door.

"How's he doing anyways?"

"Good. Dr. Namid says that he should be out of the incubator soon."

"God, I can't even imagine what you're going through." Donna says.

"It's better than the alternative," Cheyenne says with a small smile as she looks at Abel. Her arms ache to hold her little boy.

"I was just wondering if we could talk," Donna asks hesitantly.

"Of course," Cheyenne says as she motions for to take a seat in the rocking chair.

Cheyenne can tell that Donna is clearly frazzled out of her wits. Exhaustion is eating away at her bones. Her heart breaks for Donna because she knows out of everything involved in this Life, Donna doesn't deserve any of this.

"Today a woman – a Fed – came by asking me a lot of questions about Opie and the club," Donna starts out, "was a real nasty bitch."

"Stahl. She came by today too." Cheyenne confirms for her.

"I don't know what to do here, Chey." Donna reveals to her. "I love Opie. I do, but it's just not working and I don't care about the reasons behind it. It's just not working."

Cheyenne nods her head. She wasn't going to judge and most certainly wasn't to try to dictate on what Donna should do. Obviously she was here because she needed a friend. As much as she loved Opie, she knows that she can't tell Donna things that would keep Opie from hurting. She knows that if anything if the two stay in their marriage this miserable it was going to hurt not only them, but your children.

"No one will blame you if you decide to leave." Cheyenne tells her.

Donna snorts. "Are you sure about that?"

Cheyenne knows that Donna is clearly referring to Gemma and the club. "The club – Gemma – aren't in your marriage and certainly don't dictate it. You wouldn't be the first couple in this world to get a divorce and won't be the last."

"Leaving him feels to much liked betraying him."

"Struggle of being a mother and wife."

. . .

"Are you sure you're okay?" Lip asks Opie as they wait in the van for Jax.

Lip knew why Jax seemed adamant about Opie doing this small task, but their brother was not ready for anything when it came to the club.

Lip could sympathy because when he was married to Nina she always had him distracted from club shit. Lip was one to never underestimate the power of old ladies despite how shitty or amazing they were. So until Opie got his shit handled at home, he didn't think the man should be out doing jobs especially when it came to sabotaging the Feds.

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Don't need to bullshit me, bro." Lip counters as he looks at him through the rearview mirror.

After all it looks like Opie hasn't had a good night's sleep in a while or probably since they apparently did murder for hire.

He didn't know why Opie was insisted on doing that shit and if anything It seemed Opie needed some counsel since he didn't have his shit together.

"Stahl came by and questioned Donna." Opie reveals to him.

Lip hums as he isn't surprised. Opie and Donna do have the most to lose right now and it's not surprising she was questioned along with his sister, Luann, and Cherry. Hence the reason they are sitting in the van hoping the Jax can relay to Luann that the Feds are trying to get Otto to rat.

"Set her off again?" Lip questions.

"Asked more questions than I could answer."

"Could or won't?" Lip clarifies. "Why don't you just tell her shit, Ope? The way you love Donna and the way you are you need to tell her shit."

"Did you tell Nina everything?"

"I didn't need to tell Nina shit. But I never hid who I was. She knew about the guns and she knew her role as an Old Lady." Lip tells his friend. He never felt conflicted about his lifestyle the way Opie and even Jax felt. They needed to tell their worries to their Old Ladies. And Lip has heard in the pass it's either all or nothing with Old Ladies, but he thinks it depends on the patch. Lip has always felt secure with his stance in the club. He never needed to lay doubts and worry on Nina, even if he wanted too. And besides if Nina wasn't so fucked up from the drugs, they still would've been good on that front. She wouldn't need to feed off his energy and pester him about shit.

Lip thinks Donna can clearly tell Opie is going through shit. She's feeding off it and even though in the past it worked with her not knowing it seems now it isn't working anymore.

"So how are you telling me to have full disclosure with Donna when you didn't with Nina?"

"Because I didn't need it with Nina. Clearly what you and Donna had before isn't working." Lip points out.

"I can't do that," Opie tells him.

"Why not?" Lip challenges. "Scared she's going to leave?" By Opie's silence he can tell that's the answer. "Look, I'm not the go to guy for relationship advice, but the women in our lives are smart and capable – strong. They see things the way we can't. And right now, Donna needs to know the whole picture so she can know which way to jump."

. . .

Cheyenne is jostled awake when she feels the bed move. She brings her head up and reaches for the alarm clock on the side table and sees that it is 3 o'clock in the morning. She finds herself being brought into Jax arms where he spoons her.

"Sorry," he tells her.

"You know these late nights won't work with an infant at home." She tells him sleepily. Cheyenne knows she will not hide her displeasure with Jax if she finds herself always home late at night without his help with Abel. She knows better than to make a fuss in public, but she will not hesitate to make her issues known with him behind closed doors about this.

"I know."

Cheyenne huffs as she turns to face him. She doesn't even have it in her to ask what he was doing this late at night. She finds that she really doesn't even want to know.

"How will this work?" She asks him quietly. She's a doctor and him an outlaw biker. Despite their history together, it doesn't change that they both have grown up to be different people. They had changed and were still trying to figure out one another. And being parents wasn't going to be easy.

He sighs as he pushes back some of her dark hair and cups her cheek. "We'll figure it out."


	26. Family Portrait

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Woo-hoo. Another chapter. It's a short one, but I'm doing this things where I write one chapter (for those who don't know I'm in the early stages of S4. I've been a slow writer lately) and post a new chapter. So here you go. We're reaching the tail end of season one. I'm ready to be in season 2 now, as if you guys didn't know. Season 2 is my favorite season of the show and most of my story inspiration stems from that season. But enough talking. I hope grammar and spelling errors aren't too distracting for you to enjoy this.

* * *

"Jax, wake up!"

His eyes pop open as he feels his body jostled and instantly panic fills his bones. He turns to look at Cheyenne and only finds her brimming with excitement. Jax furrows his brows and turns to look at the clock and finds that it is 7 o'clock in the morning.

"What the hell, Chey?" He mutters as his head falls back on the pillows. He was tried, really fucking tired, considering he didn't get home late dealing with Cherry and Luann. Right now all he wanted to do was sleep, sleep, and sleep.

He didn't have any pressing matters to deal with as the club had to wait to see if Luann was able to get to Otto. He was slightly annoyed with Cherry. Considering she was practically Half Sack's old lady, the fact she could break to the point of ratting was making him rethink if One Nut would get his top rocker.

And for once, he was getting a peaceful sleep. He wasn't having dreams dealing with the club, his father, or even his kid. It was just a blank sleep. Something he wanted deeply. But it seems Cheyenne had other plans for him. As she found her way on top of him as she straddle his waist.

"Chey, if this doesn't end the way I think it is, please let me sleep." He grumbles with closed eyes.

But all she does is wiggle on top of him, which doesn't help his morning wood. He grips her hips to stop the movement and he opens one eye up at her.

"Don't worry, I'll suck your dick," she tells him with a smile not at all deterred by his mood.

He sighs and decides to appease her and to see what has gotten her this excited this early in the morning. "What is it, babe?"

"Abel will be coming out of the incubator today!" She practically screams. "So you need to keep your schedule all clear."

Any sleep vanishes from his system as a wide smile over takes his features. Cheyenne tackles him back to the bed and he is left with a burning kiss to his lips as he feels her hands slip between him and into his boxers.

. . .

Settling back up into Jax's arm, he waits a minute to catch his breath before he relies to her some recent things happening in the club. Cheyenne frowns as Jax explains to her why he was out late last night. Apparently Stahl approaching all the women was a scare tactic, but it had apparently worked when it came to Cherry and Otto. Cherry's real name wasn't even Cherry, but Rita who was wanted for arson and grand theft. Otto was having Luann leveraged against him unwillingly.

"Seems Stahl is quite resourceful though." Cheyenne says seriously. "And a little bit desperate."

Jax nods his head in agreement. "Yeah, but she doesn't have shit on us."

"Jax, if those words are supposed to comfort me they don't." She tells him bluntly with a slight edge in her voice.

He frowns at her. "We do the time, it's what we do."

The brunette leans away from him. "I get that, Jax, but you get caught with something it's going to hurt our little boy."

"It's not like I look forward to jail time," he drawls out.

"I know and I'm not trying to start anything. I just…I know what it's like to be raised without a Dad, Jax."

"Being in jail is different from being a dead junkie." He points out a bit harshly.

"My dad is only dead because of Clay," she bites out. Jax tenses from beneath her. "Jax, I'm not trying to start a fight." If anything she would think after a blow job he wouldn't be this tense.

"Then what the fuck is this conversation Chey?"

"Donna's thinking about leaving Ope," she tells him bluntly.

Jax freezes as he looks at her. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Cheyenne sighs as she runs her hands through her hair. "Donna came to talk to me after Stahl questioned her. She's not happy, Jax." She tells him even though she had opened her mouth to much about what Donna said to her, she wasn't going to tell him everything.

"Well no shit. It's not like she's making things easier for Ope."

Cheyenne bristles at that thought. There could be blame on both sides, but she wouldn't put the fault on Donna.

"What you tell her?" Jax asks.

Cheyenne moves away from Jax, but before she can move off the bed, he grabs her. "What did you say, Chey?"

"It's not club business, Jax," she tells him.

Jax is taken back by her answer and a cruel smirk comes across his face. "What business is it?"

Cheyenne shakes her head. "You wouldn't be able to understand Jax."

"Understand what?"

"What is means to be a mother," she tells him. "How maternal instinct and betrayal intertwine."

. . .

Cheyenne's a little put off by how her morning with Jax went. She's honestly confused as to where the conversation sprung out of. She can tell he is a little bothered by it, but it doesn't stop him from asking her to head up to the cabin with him to check on Cameron Hayes.

He insists on her riding on his bike as his mom can take her back. She decides against arguing against it.

Reaching the cabin, she finds Gemma waiting along with Happy and Half Sack although she is informed that he is in the back busy with Cherry.

She finds Cameron laying on the couch and tends to his healing gunshot wound. Jax and Gemma hover over her.

Jax moves his gaze from Cameron to his mom.

His still perturbed by how his and Chey's morning went, but it doesn't distract from the fact he will finally be able to hold his son tonight.

"Abel's getting out of the toaster today," he tells his mom.

Her eyes that were watching Cheyenne work intently flies over to his. A bright smile overtakes her feature. "Really?"

Jax nods his head.

"We're just waiting on Dr. Namid's call. He's in surgery for most of the day," Cheyenne adds and she begins covering the wound with a dry bandage.

"You have a son?" Cameron asks.

Cheyenne looks at him while Jax looks down at the Irishman. "Yeah, he's almost two months." Jax tells him.

"I have a son, myself. Boys are wicked lee lads," Cameron tells them.

"I think that says more about the fathers," Cheyenne pipes up causing the Irishman to chuckle.

"You could say that. You have a gentle touch." Cameron says.

"Takes years of practice," Cheyenne replies as she pulls off her gloves. "Try not to move around too much. But everything looks good."

"Cheyenne!"

As soon as she stands she finds herself brought into a big hug by Cherry. Cheyenne smiles and she finds herself a little sad that the girl is leaving for Ireland.

"I'm going to miss you," Cherry tells her and Cheyenne hears Jax snort from behind her. She doesn't hide her glare from him.

"Maybe when the heat dies down you can find your way back here to Kip.".

"I'm not going to do that to him." Cherry informs her sadly. "Don't want him missing out on finding another old lady that can help him."

"I'm sure he won't forget about you." Cheyenne assures her.

Cherry smiles at her, but she can tell the young woman is trying hard not to smile.

. . .

After following the cargo truck carrying Cameron and Cherry, Jax makes his way back to the clubhouse where he finds his mom in the office.

"Hey, baby," she greets as he steps in and takes a seat on the couch. "Excited for tonight?"

"Yeah. A little nervous." He admits. Even with Cheyenne pregnant and being there every step of the way, fatherhood was always abstract to him.

It wasn't real until he has seen his baby boy tiny and screaming before they whisked him away that he was responsible for this kid.

His son was his legacy. Just like he was his father and he didn't want his son inheriting any of this shit he had. And after his talk with Cheyenne in the morning, he knows that she was right. What he does only hurts their kid. There wasn't any guarantee that Abel would follow him into this life. He knows Cheyenne wasn't going to groom him like his mother did and he knows he isn't going to force his child into something he may not want. Sure, he would love to pass this club down to his own son, but not this club. If he could change it into something he was proud of then maybe.

"You and Cheyenne seem to be going good." His mom says. "Look happy."

Jax raises one eyebrow at his mom. "I sense a but."

"No buts. I just want you to be happy. I'm glad you found an old lady along the way." She says. "She is your old lady, right?"

Jax sighs as he searches for a cigarette. "We haven't talked about it."

"A house, a baby, I thought it would be pretty clear that is where that was heading." His mom points out.

"I think we had more things to worry about then me slapping my crow on her."

"You know it's more than the crow."

"What are you getting at, Ma?"

"If she loves you Jax, she'll learn to love the club."

. . .

"You nervous?"

Jax looks over at Lip while they wait at the hospital. St. Thomas had called and gave them a thirty minute wait period before Dr. Namid would be done to get Abel out of the incubator.

Cheyenne, his mom, Fawn, and Isla were inside while he and Lip decided to go outside for a smoke break. Really it was for Jax to catch his goddamn breathe.

"A little," he tells Lip, who only snorts.

"That's a goddamn lie." Lip counters. "When Nina was pregnant with Isla, I was a goddamn mess. Especially when I found out Isla was a girl."

Jax nods his head as he remembers how Lip was petrified and a worry wart when it was revealed that Nina was pregnant with a girl.

"So I guess I'm lucky I have a boy, huh?"

"And you didn't have to deal with a junkie being the mom." Lip points out. "But fatherhood is the greatest thing that can happen to you, Jax."

"Is this a pep talk?" Jax inquires.

"Maybe. I just know you are pushing for change," Lip starts. "I know Abel is probably a big factor behind it among other things. Just be careful, Jax. But know I'll back you as it would nice to grow old, watch Isla walk down the aisle, and give me some grandchildren."

"You'll have to allow her to date first," Jax drawls.

Lip chuckles and the sliding doors open and Isla comes out with a smile on her face. "They're ready."

. . .

Jax takes his place next to Cheyenne, who immediately latches on to his hand with hers. Jax wraps his arm around her shoulders as he brings her into his side and presses a kiss to her head. Cheyenne's arms wrap around his waist in response as she looks up at him with a blinding smile. He goes to place a sweet kiss on her lips but all of their attention is diverted to the soft gurgling of Abel, who is being carried in by Dr. Namid. Cheyenne immediately goes and reaches for their son causing all of them to smile at her impatience.

"You have a beautiful son." Dr. Namid says as he transferred the bundle over.

Cheyenne makes sure Abel is content in her arms as he immediately latches on to some of her long hair, "Thanks."

As Dr. Namid exits the room, Lip nudges Gemma and Fawn with Isla to leave and give the new family a moment to themselves.

Cheyenne wipes more tears that are leaking from her eyes realizing she is hogging their son, "Oh god Jax. I'm sorry."

Jax realizes Cheyenne is actually talking to him and tears his eyes away from the sight of Abel in his mother's arms, "No, hold him for as long as you want. I can wait a few more minutes."

"Don't be ridiculous. Sit down in the rocker." Cheyenne insists.

"Why?"

"Because I am afraid you are going to drop him." She says with no preamble. "Now sit."

Jax does as he is told and sits down opening his arms to accept his son, he watches as Cheyenne gives Abel a kiss on his forehead before gingerly transferring their little boy to him. Jax would actually admit tears were lining his eyes.

Looking at his baby boy, he cannot help but have a cheesy grin on his face as his takes in his sons little fingers, his chubby cheeks, and the blue eyes that were the exact same shade as his, but were outlined with grey rims. "He is beautiful Chey."

"I know he looks like you though blonde hair and all. It was like I didn't even carry him." She says as her heart melts at the scene of her baby's father holding his son for the first time.

"Well maybe the next one will sprout some brown hair." Jax says without thinking, "Shit-"

"It's fine Jax, but you are going to need to work on your mouth. No swearing around the kid."

They both stew in a comfortable silence committing this scene, this moment, into their memory.

Jax sees Cheyenne still standing offers his chair, "Here take the kid and sit in the rocker."

"No Jax it is fine. There is an extra chair."

Ignoring her protest Jax gets up from the chair to hand Abel back to her, who immediately starts cooing excitedly at seeing his mom's face, "I think the kid likes you more than me."

Cheyenne cradles her baby in her arms as she makes silly faces. Jax thinks she was born to be a mother, "That is because I am mommy."

Jax smiles at the obvious joy in Cheyenne's eyes and the sight of her and his son, "A mommy's boy in the making."

Cheyenne looks at Jax and raises her eyebrows at him, "Like you aren't."

"Which mommy are we referring too?"

Cheyenne only smiles in response before he leans forward and presses a soft kiss to her lips. It's on the tip of his tongue to tell her those four letters words, but for some reason he can't.

But Cheyenne responds with a kiss of her own and he thinks that he doesn't need too.


	27. Capybara

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** So I'm a terrible author as I didn't check this over for grammar mistakes. Also, I was re-reading this story just to make sure my canon and stuff was still good and I didn't realize the typos I had with still leaving "Em/Emma" in here. So I apologize as I know you guys do a good job in telling me in reviews. But I apologize for such a obvious typo in previous chapters.

Happy Easter everyone!

* * *

The sound of rhythmic thumping and the sound of a mattress squeaking fill Jax's dorm room.

Jax is crowded over her, fucking her into the mattress, and in the back of her mind Cheyenne is unsure of how they got there.

After visiting Abel, Cheyenne had made the journey to the clubhouse to see Jax. Dr. Namid had told her that Abel was probably going to go home sooner than expected and she jumped on the chance to share the news with Jax.

She found him surrounded by Bobby and Chibs and the place was busy with a few hangarounds. She was in the middle of telling him the news, her excitement causing her to bounce on her feet, his eyes following how her chest reacted to the movement, when he had stood up and grabbed her hand. She didn't think of it when he had quickly led her back to the dorm room.

But now, a half hour later, as they start on round two, she knows this is all just a show of ownership for Jax.

Since giving birth to Abel and her medical clearance, her confidence hasn't been the best, if anything it had been low. She did her best to keep him satisfied with blow jobs, but she knows he was itching to sink back into her warmth. But she wasn't ready yet. He didn't push her.

However, today she had tried on some jeans of hers pre-pregnancy and she had practically did cartwheels as they fit with no muffin top. Her shirts were a little snug considering she was pumping, but she didn't care about that.

She surmises that Jax likes her in her former jeans and probably a few of the hangarounds too, which led to her finding herself being plowed by Jax in the dorm room.

She keens into the curve of his neck as her fingers rake across his shoulders before coming down to squeeze his ass roughly.

Jax chuckles in her neck and his breath fans across her jaw and throat, his lips latch onto her collarbone. The small movement has her back arching and toes curling.

"Like that, darlin'," he murmurs. Cheyenne groans as he sucks a hickey onto her neck. She grips him tighter as he finds that sweet spot inside her that has her falling apart.

"Oh god," she moans as her nails dig into his skin as she their hips meet with each thrust.

No space is left between them. Jax's face is buried in her neck, lips brushing against her skin causing more whines and gasps from her. Overwhelmed by the outlaw's roll of hips, his hot breath, his body crowding her, all it takes for her to roll over the edge is his thumb coming down between them and rubbing her clit.

"Jax, I –" Cheyenne is cut off by her own orgasm. Her vision goes blank as her back arches off the mattress.

Jax grins smugly as he feels her walls pulsing around him and it pulls him into his own abyss of pleasure. He tenses, buries himself deep, and empties into her warmth.

Both are worn out by the two quickies. Jax falls back onto the mattress as she nuzzles into his side.

"I've missed this," she tells him truthfully.

"Well I aim to please," Jax tells her breathlessly as he tries to catch his breath.

. . .

After a quick shower, that took longer than needed, as Jax had joined her. It's late by time Cheyenne gets ready to leave the clubhouse.

She is making her way to her car when she is stopped by Lip.

"What the hell are you doing here so late for?" He asks gruffly.

"I stopped by to see Jax." She tells him.

"You live with him. Don't you see him enough?" He counters as he raises his eyebrow. She notices he does an once over on her and his face morphs into disgust.

"You're such a child, Lip. How do you think Abel got here?"

"The Holy Spirit," he states bluntly.

Cheyenne rolls her eyes.

Lip sighs as even though he is trying to get right by it, he still has trouble wrapping his mind around that Jax and Cheyenne are a thing. Lip isn't stupid either. He knows the two had to be doing stuff all under their noses in the past.

"Look, I'm sorry, alright. I'm not trying to be negative. I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I know, Lip."

He gives his sister a smile, but his eyes look behind her as unmarked vehicles come onto the lot. And before he can even see who the trespassers are, Federal Agents jump out of the car aiming weapons and immediately force him and Cheyenne on the ground.

. . .

Cheyenne watches with wide eyes as Bobby is escorted off the lot. Lip is next to her protectively as the Feds begin to leave and she recognizes Agent Stahl among the chaos.

The club follows out as Bobby is taken away and Jax is immediately in front of her. "Shit. Are you okay?"

Before she can open her mouth, Lip does it for her. "She's fine."

Jax shoots Lip a look, but she grabs Jax's attention as she grabs his hand. "I'm okay. Just taken back."

"They didn't do anything did they?"

"No, just forced me to the ground." She tells him with a frown.

"Jax. Lip. Church," Clay shouts.

"I gotta go," Jax tells her before he plants a kiss on her lips.

. . .

Nina pays the cab driver and gives him a nice tip as she looks at her former home. She was unsure about coming back to Charming. She could have extended her stay at Lincoln Village until she could get into her spot at Sober Living in Seattle, but she thought it would be fitting to give Charming one last farewell. She wanted to at least give her daughter a proper farewell.

Nina still wasn't right with how she did leave in the first place. Now sober and clean, working on the steps to get to a place where she can be a mother, she needed to see her daughter to show her that she hasn't forgotten about her.

Yet, she knows to do that she will have to go through Lip. Their divorce was final and the custody agreement was ironed out. Lip had gained full custody of their daughter and depending on how long she was clean for determined if she needed to be supervised or not, which really meant Neeta would be watching.

She knows that she can find Lip at Teller Morrow. But she doesn't think she can stomach having to deal with the guys or worse Gemma.

She knows Gemma wasn't as tough with her if Nina would have been with Jax. But Gemma still was protective over Lip. Gemma hadn't hid her distaste for her and her drug abuse.

The two women had a bitter relationship, but Nina is unsure if the drugs were the cause of that or Gemma was just a bitch.

But despite her feelings for Gemma, Nina had learned to never disrespect the Queen or hurt her family. She made peace with Gemma for giving her enough crank to kill a horse.

So instead, she decides to visit a neutral party.

. . .

Cheyenne is laughing with a couple of the nurses that had spotted the love bite at the base of her throat that was being exposed from the makeup fading. They're teasing her on how she must have gotten over the fact her body changed with pregnancy. They goad her on details about Jax as surprisingly there were some women Jax hadn't slept with, but she remains tight lipped. After all, her post coitus euphoria was quickly shattered by the Feds. She hasn't seen or heard from Jax since last night. She bids them a farewell as she makes the trek to see Abel.

She reaches the small lobby and she stops in her tracks at the women sitting on the couch.

"Nina?" Cheyenne questions as she looks at the women.

Nina has regained some weight and looks healthy and sober. She had gotten rid of the bleach blonde and is back to being a dark brunette. Cheyenne thinks Nina looks like she did when she was young with the smile on her face.

Nina stands as she stuffs her hands in the pockets of her jeans. "I hope this is okay?"

"Uh, yeah," Cheyenne says as she leads her into Abel's room to feed him. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Nina replies as she follows her in. "70 days sober."

"That's good, Nina," Cheyenne says as she picks up Abel from the crib and is rewarded with a coo.

"He's beautiful, by the way. Congratulations."

"Thanks. He's name is Abel." She tells her former sister in law as she grabs a bottle filled with her milk and takes a sit in the rocking chair.

"What are you doing here, Nina?"

"I wanted to see Isla before I checked into sober living in Seattle."

"Seattle is a far way from Charming." Cheyenne points out.

"I know," Nina agrees. "But I need to do what's best for my family – me."

Cheyenne nods her head as she can understand.

"How are Isla and Lip?"

"Isla's good. Lip more of the same."

"I miss them," Nina admits. "But I fucked all that up."

"I can try to talk to Lip, but I can't promise anything."

. . .

"I don't like this, brother," Lip says seriously as they stand by their bikes at the clubhouse.

Opie was MIA and Bobby was arrested for the murder of Hefner. It didn't need to be said that there was a connection to the two.

But Jax can't see how one fits with the other. There were no witness from his end and he knows Bobby was solid on his part.

Even with Clay dropping the knowledge that Opie's debt was cleared it still didn't make any sense. Even if Donna had decided she was done and wanted nothing to do with Opie, it wouldn't turn his brother into a rat.

It would send him on a downward spiral for sure, but what would ratting accomplish for his family. If anything, he knows that Opie would never rat. Opie wouldn't even contemplate it as an option despite if it would grant his deepest desire.

And as Vice President, he knows he needs to step away from situations. He can't let his personal feeling guide how to handle something. He needs to be objective, but he knows he was right in claiming that Tig was coming from a place of straight paranoia.

He could see if it was another brother, but Opie was raised SAMCRO. Opie was loyal to a default.

"I don't know, man," Jax says with a sigh.

"If Opie was picked up because of that Hefner shit they wouldn't have taken the kids." Lip points out.

"So you're saying he's a rat?" Jax asks heatedly.

"I'm saying Otto just pissed off a Fed," Lip says. "I wouldn't be surprised that they are trying to find another way to unravel the club. Besides, I don't think we need to worry about Opie. It's Donna."

Jax looks at him confused and Lip clarifies. "It's fine that Opie didn't want full disclosure, but he was never upfront with Donna about the Life. She doesn't know about protocols. Doesn't know what to say and what not to say. Besides, once you bring kids in the mix that shit gets messy."

"Funny, Chey, said something to me about that the other day." Jax mentions to Lip.

Lip quirks his brows. "Really? How in the hell did that topic of conversation come up?"

Jax shakes his head. "Just did."

Lip doesn't press, but still asks. "And what did she have to say?"

"Said maternal instinct and betrayal intertwine." Jax tells him.

Lip goes silent before he hums. "Sounds like some deep shit my sister would say."

"You believe that?" Jax asks him.

"Not if that shit applies to Nina," Lip counters with a huff before he goes silent again. "I don't know. I do think as fathers we're wired different. And I hate to say that fathers and mothers love differently, but in a way we do. I think as fathers we're jealous creature."

Jax shoots Lip a WTF look, but lets Lip continue.

"With Nina always fucked up, I think I was fortunate not to get this, but then I had a girl. Plus, with girls we don't have to worry, ya know, girls don't feel threaten by us."

"And boys do?"

"Jax, it's simple psychology. Oedipus complex. Sons challenge our legacy – our meaning. And as much as I know you probably liked my sister all fat with your seed, but it also means you won't have Chey to yourself. This little boy is going to take your place and he's not going to be afraid to challenge you for it. And as much as you're not going to want to admit to yourself, you're not going to like it."

Jax scrunches his brows together. "So you're saying I'm going to get into a pissing contest with my own kid?"

"What I'm saying is there might come a day where Chey is going to have to choose between you and Abel and that shit is going to fucking feel like betrayal."

. . .

Lip ends up following Jax to St. Thomas to visit Abel. Jax tries not to let Lip's words bum him out, but they fucking do. And Jax can't pinpoint why because he doesn't think Chey wanting to do what is best for their son could possibly feel like betrayal. And if club shit got rough and she wanted out, he wouldn't force her to stay. It would fucking hurt, but as long as still didn't deny him access to Abel he would survive. He could cope. He would find some way to navigate it. But he couldn't think of anything that would even put Cheyenne in a position to have to do anything that would rip their family a part like that.

"You got to be fucking kidding me."

Jax stops at Lip's words and looks ahead to in front of them. He spots Cheyenne in her lab coat and curly hair pinned back by a clip, and he has to admit, she's looking fucking beautiful with the little bit of gloss he sees she has put on. He didn't think he could find some plain green scrubs sexy, but Cheyenne manages to get his dick to jump a little. However, his eyes trail to the person Cheyenne is talking to and his eyebrows skyrocket to his hairline.

The last person he expected to see back in Charming was Nina. And here she was sober and looking healthy. Her hair wasn't greasy, skin wasn't a sickly pale, and her clothes weren't practically falling off her already thin frame. He could say she looked good clean and could see why Lip was attracted to her back in the day.

And both women turn and look over at them from Lip's outburst. Cheyenne gives them a smile while Nina looks plain scared at the sight of Lip.

Jax knows he wants to avoid whatever awkward and possible volatile encounter as he wraps an arm around Cheyenne's shoulder and directs her back to Abel's room with a quick and brisk hello to Nina.

. . .

Nina wraps her arms around herself as she looks at her ex-husband. She's not surprised nothing has changed about him. He's still very muscular and his is in between haircuts, but it seems he has neglected shaving for some reason. Yet, his eyes are different. They're not their usual dark green laced with annoyance, but apprehension.

"I swear I'm not here to cause any problems," she tells him truthfully.

"Thought my sister could lessen the blow, eh?"

Nina shakes her head as even if she didn't know herself at times, Lip always did. "You caught me."

"You left rehab?" Lip questions her.

"No." Nina tells him. "I'm moving into a sober living house in Seattle. Waiting for my spot. I have 70 days."

Lip gives her a genuine smile. "That's fantastic."

"Yeah." Nina replies with a slight blush.

"You look great." He tells her honestly.

Nina looks down at her simple attire of jeans and a band t-shirt pair with a pair of White Converse, not really sold on it, but she knows Lip doesn't say words he doesn't mean. "Thanks. So- I was just hoping I could see Isla before I go."

Lip stuffs his hands in his pockets as he eyes her. "You got someplace to stay?"

"Ramada. I gotta stay away from all my old friends, you know? And I didn't know if you wanted me back at the place you got for me. I just- I left my bags there, but-"

"Well, you can stay there. Got two months on the lease left."

"What about Gemma?"

"Yeah, good point." Lip laughs. "Ramada's probably safer."

Nina chuckles a little and a little hope blossoms in her that maybe she and Lip could someday have a normal relationship. She wasn't betting on anything romantic, but just hoping they could be friends as at one point in time they were.

"If Isla wants to see you, you can. But it's up to her."

. . .

Jax watches as Lip gives Nina a tentative hug, but a hug none the less and he wonders what his friend is doing. "How long she back for?" Jax asks Cheyenne, who unlike him isn't being nosey.

"Until she goes to Seattle. So I guess for a few days." She responds as she rocks Abel.

"Think rehab is going to last?"

"I don't know. I hope so." Cheyenne says. "I think it would do her some good to be away from Charming."

"Charming that bad of a place."

"For some it seems like." She says before Lip walks through the door to see his nephew.

. . .

Lip had informed her that Isla was at home with Neeta. It was all the push she needed to go see her daughter. She pulls into Lip's driveway and finds her heart beating fast against her chest and maybe even a little bit of cold sweat on her skin.

But she takes a deep breath and remembers her counselor's words that there will be a lot of anger and it will take time before she and Isla would be able to connect – to build a relationship with each other. She turns off her car and makes her way to the door and gives it a few timid knocks.

She stuffs her hands in her pocket as she waits for the door to open and when it does it reveals Neeta, who doesn't seem surprised by her appearance. "Lip mentioned you would be stopping by."

"Of course he did. Isla know?"

"No," Neeta says as she lets her in. "She's in her bedroom."

Nina enters Lip's house and she is instantly brought back to their teenage years as she used to sneak over here all the time before his parents' drug abuse had really taken a nose dive than he would come to her place. But she hasn't been here in years and it surprises her how homey and domestic it feels, she's shocked that there isn't SAMCRO décor all over the place, but bare minimalist décor that looks straight out of an IKEA catalog. But it works and there are the little touches of Isla throughout.

Nina makes the trek down the hallway to Lip's former room that is now Isla's.

Isla is in the middle of her bed flipping through a magazine and her heart seizes at the sight of her daughter. Isla was her spitting image from the long brown hair, lithe frame, and green eyes. This girl was a piece of her and Lip – the best parts of them.

And Nina could admit she struggled as a mother besides the obvious drug abuse. She was so young when she got pregnant and thrown head first into motherhood as well as an outlaw lifestyle she was't sure how to navigate through. She and Lip were always buddies first. They had great sex and he could make her laugh, but she got pregnant and their relationship had changed. She always loved Lip and she knows that she still does, but they weren't ready for marriage and a baby.

She wasn't sure how to raise a tiny human being and it showed and she failed. If it wasn't for Lip, Isla wouldn't be the young woman she is turning out to be.

She knocks on the doorframe and Isla's head whips to her and there is obvious shock on her face. "Does Dad know you're here?"

"Uh, yeah, he does."

"You left rehab?"

"No, no, I'm waiting for my spot to open at a sober living house." She tells her daughter and she hates that she even has to have this conversation with her 9 year old daughter. "Can I come in?"

Isla looks at her apprehensively. "Sure, I guess."

Nina takes a hesitant step in and admires the neutral green walls and the various pictures of family and dancers on the wall. She sits in the desk chair across from Isla's bed and is unsure of how to even start a conversation.

She brings her hands together as she takes a shaky breath. "I know I'm not a good mother and there is a lot I've done wrong in my life and in your life. The mistakes I've made can't be forgiven in a day and I don't expect them too. I just want you to know that I love you so much, but I let the junk shit all over that and I'm sorry for doing that too you. I can accept if you can never think of me as nothing but an egg donor, but I hope one day, I can at least be your friend."

Isla looks at her blankly before her eyes look over her and to one of the pics pinned to her cork board. "I don't know what you want me to say."

"You don't have to say anything." Nina assures her. "If you need space and time, I'll give it to you."

"And what makes this time different from all the others?"

Nina swallows the lump in her throat. "I knew you were starting to hate me."

. . .

"We could still have the Prospect doing this shit for free," Jax grumbles as he looks at the bill for the painters. He doesn't understand why they were getting the house painted again, but Cheyenne insisted on it although it was just the hallways and their room.

Cheyenne huffs from behind him where she is putting away freshly bought groceries. "It's not like we're hurting for the money."

"Oh so that's why you're with me – for the money." He teases.

"Yeah and your big dick."

Jax waggles his eyebrows at Cheyenne causing her to giggle.

Jax grabs a beer from the fridge and takes a sit at the kitchen table as he watches Cheyenne move about. She has ditched her lab coat and the matching top to her green scrub pants and is wearing a tight fitting white wife beater. He licks his lips at the sight of her fuller breast move with her movement.

"So can I ask why Bobby was picked up?" She asks him.

Jax's eyes slid from her breasts to her face and he bites his lip. Telling her about Bobby meant mentioning Opie and he was unsure if he really wanted to talk about that. Yet, he was sure she would hear about it eventually and she would be pissed if she didn't hear it from him.

Jax sighs as he knows there is no way he can sugar coat that they played assassins. He motions for her to come closer and he pulls her into his lap.

He explains it all to her and even the truth about the Hefner hit, including his involvement, and the fact that not only did Bobby get arrested, but Opie is in custody as Mary had to pick up the kids from the Department of Justice. He even told her about how the club is doubting Opie's loyalty to the club.

She's quiet for a moment as she seems to be gathering her thoughts. "I think it's all just some ploy from the Feds."

"And why do you think that?"

"Well you said that you were there too…you would've been arrested with them."

"Not if the witness didn't see me," he points out to her. "I wasn't on the balcony."

Cheyenne huffs as she purses her lips together. "Still…it's clever for them to use Opie considering everything he has going on."

Jax nods his head.

"Opie wouldn't rat, Jax." She assures him.

"And this doesn't bother you?"

Cheyenne gives him a slight frown and her hands from the silver bullet pendent she got for him many Christmases ago when he killed his first man for the club. "As long as it doesn't change you."


	28. The Sleep of Babies

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** The end of Season 1 is near.

* * *

Jax doesn't remember what he was dreaming about. He can't even grasp an image that would bring it back to consciousness. All he knows is that whatever the dream was has left a nauseous feeling in his gut. He can feel bile clawing its way up his throat.

But whatever it was, he doesn't want to linger on it any longer than he needs too. He rolls to his side and he immediately seeks Cheyenne. Since they've begun to share a bed together, he's used to waking up with their limbs usually tangled together.

Except for this morning, she's laying on her side in her spot while he was sprawled on his back. He moves to rectify that. He meets her halfway into the bed and considering that it's still relatively early, he doesn't want to wake her up. She had gotten home at 3 am trying to clock in some extra hours. He didn't exactly like those late hours, but he decided it was best to keep his lips sealed on the matter.

He delicately maneuvers his arms around her as he pulls her into his chest - her back against it. His lips quirk up as she begins mumbling something intangible before she sighs contently and falls back into a deep sleep. He's surprised that she doesn't start snoring.

He presses a kiss to her shoulder and he feels some of the tension from his sleep leave in his shoulder, but he still feels it in his belly.

He thinks it is now because he is up and is flooded with everything that has been happening in the past few weeks – days.

His mind still reels from Clay's attempted assassination attempt. He knows it has been handled with the Mayan-SOA truth and in the end it still is a good thing for the club – keeps them gun running. ATF is still circling them as they watch there every move. It makes him think about Bobby and how in the fuck they are going to pay for his counsel as Rosen charges $1200 an hour. The worst is that Jax and the club knows that they have solid Intel – a rat - on Bobby as if it was nothing he wouldn't still be locked up.

And he can't help but have the feeling that despite Opie being taken that same night as an obvious ploy to unravel the club, some still were shaky on his best friend's innocence. Specifically, Clay and Tig. Jax is unsure how he feels about it.

He knows in this Life, emotions need to be kept tightly contained. Decisions can't come from an overly emotional state. He understands Clay's needs to be objection – cold – even. He's President of an outlaw club and that shit isn't easy. But he doesn't see how Clay could only see a certain part of this situation. How he would let some skinny ATF bitch unravel him like this.

But he thinks maybe now isn't the best time to think about this. He's in bed with Chey and he hates bringing shit into the bedroom and Abel is coming home later in the day.

He thinks that maybe club shit can take a backseat for once.

. . .

Cheyenne is in the Livingroom, folding clothes, and slowly working on her list of things that need to be done for tonight. Her baby boy was coming home and she wanted things to be perfect. Of course, Gemma insisted on throwing a party too. Cheyenne guesses that a party will be nice for the boys considering ATF's presence in town.

And she wasn't going to let club business taint this night. She's folding another pair of Jax's boxers when he comes down the hallways fresh out of the shower. He smiles when he sees her and presses a kiss to her lips.

Despite Jax being attentive and affectionate these last few days, his eyes and his mind were elsewhere. She knows that what was going down with Bobby and Opie was still on his mind. ATF wasn't hiding that they were there and who for. She wasn't surprised by his distraction and inability to leave work at the clubhouse so to speak.

But now she is worried that there may be more going on with him. She's more worried about how he is feeling more than anything.

As he pulls back she grabs onto his arm and holds him there as her grey eyes connect with his blue ones, "Is everything okay?" She asks.

"I'm good." He tells her.

"You sure?" She presses. Hoping that he'll give her something. "I know with Abel coming home –"

"It's not that, babe." He tells her as his lips press in a thin line.

"The club?" He looks at her hesitantly. "Jax, you can tell me."

Jax sighs as he takes a deep breath. He goes to open his mouth, but at that moment the front door opens and Gemma walks through with bags for last minute things for the party.

"I gotta go," he tells her as he presses another kiss to her lips. "I'll see you later."

Cheyenne watches as he greets his mom before he heads out the door. Cheyenne stands up as she folds the last item of laundry. "Hey Gemma."

"Hey, sweetheart," Gemma greets as she places her many bags on the coffee table. "You excited for tonight?"

"Yeah, anxious for him to be home."

Gemma nods her head. "And you and Jax are good?

Cheyenne nods her head. "Yeah. Why wouldn't we be?"

"It's been different for you being a patches' sister. Didn't really have to live by the same rules. But now, you're the mother to Jax's son and his old lady –"

Cheyenne opens her month to object, but Gemma cuts her off.

"You're his old lady or if anything that's where it's heading," Gemma says. "There's a whole new set of responsibilities and I want to be sure you are willing to take them on."

"I don't think I would be here if I wasn't going to be able to handle Jax's life." Cheyenne tells Gemma. Cheyenne isn't stupid or naïve. She knows who Jax is. "I know who Jax is. I know who my brother is. Just because I was gone doesn't mean I changed or forgot about that fact."

. . .

Jax understands the need to make money and to make good on their word with this alliance with the Mayans. He even understands that they need to start making a reserve for Bobby's defense. However, he thinks it's reckless and stupid to sell their security surplus as a goodwill gesture to the Mayans.

It's just plain stupid to him and he's unsure of why the vote even passed. He always can't help the feeling in his gut that something doesn't feel right about the whole meet. And his gut is screaming right now as he grabs their guns out from the hiding place that was in his dorm room and hands them to Opie.

"You think this is a bad idea." Opie points out.

"Yeah. I do." He tells his friend honestly. With ATF circling, the last thing they need to be doing is making a deal. He understands they need to satisfy their new eager customers, but it doesn't mean they need to get reckless doing it. It was that recklessness that would hurt the club in the long run.

"Clay made a deal with the Mayans to make sure the war didn't reach Charming."

"It's bigger than that now." Jax replies.

"What?"

"Let's just get this done." Jax tells his friend dismissively.

"Hey, man, if you think I'm walking into something-" Opie begins as he eyes him.

Jax steps down from the bed and sits down. He knows to be able to achieve his dad's vision he needs to open up and try to explain to his brothers where he is at. His point of view. He knows Lip is already there and he is pretty sure if he gives Lip his father's manuscript, Lip would be on bored immediately. Jax is pretty sure that Opie will be too.

"Look at the last few months, man. The warehouse gets blown up. Mayans tried to kill Clay. Bobby's in jail. We got ATF trying to stick RICO up our ass. How much longer do you think this club's got? We're better than this, man." He tells his friend. These men are better than outlaw life and all the blood and bullets that come with it. But Jax can't deny that he was fine with his life up until his father's manuscript. Fine with the guns and inevitable prison sentences. And he thinks that is the most upsetting that he didn't think that this shouldn't be a normal life. If he didn't find the manuscript when he did he was going to be okay with his son following in his footsteps. "My old man? He saw the nightmare coming. He was smart, Ope. Way smarter than me. He had ideas about where to take the club. You know? Legitimate ways to earn. He knew. Sam Crow's got to change to survive."

Opie nods his head. "Clay'll never walk away from running guns."

Jax knows that in his core. He knows that his stepfather will be his biggest obstacle. "I know. He's made that very clear." Jax says as they wouldn't be doing this deal if that wasn't the case.

"Well, a few more years he won't be able to turn the throttle, and you'll be number one." Opie tells him in consolation.

"And Bobby and Tig?" Jax questions. Bobby will be the easiest to sway, but Tig will only follow Clay's lead. "Pushing them in a new direction? Jesus Christ. Two immovable objects."

"Irresistible force." Opie finishes. "It could happen."

. . .

Lip wanted a drink and to get laid really badly. And he thinks once his mind and dick can catch up to those current thoughts it is exactly what he is going to do.

Because the club is officially in the shit show if what just happened means anything. Not only did the Niners somehow know about them dealing with the Mayans, and shot up both ends of the meet, but the Mayans wouldn't trust them.

"We need to be fucking concerned how our meet got put out," Lip points out to Clay, Tig, Opie, and Jax.

"We can't control how the Mayans handle their business," Clay responds.

Lip bristles. "The Mayans wouldn't have lasted this long if all of them had a set of loose lips. This shit doesn't seem right."

"So what are you saying?" Tig counters tensely.

Lip ignores his tone and frankly doesn't give a shit about rank as this shit affects every member of this club. "I'm saying this was a stupid ass deal to begin with."

Lip watches as both Clay and Tig tense while Opie looks worried, but Jax intervenes. "Let's go for a drink. Seems like you need one."

Lip fights the urge to punch the wall of the clubhouse as Jax leads him into the clubhouse.

"You need to calm down, bro," Jax warns as they pass through the doors.

"This shit don't have you worried?" Lip asks. "You might have not made it home to your son tonight because of this bullshit."

"I know, but now isn't the time to go flying off the handle." Jax counters.

Lip shrugs Jax's arm off him. "This is the perfect time."

"Dude, what the fuck has you this tense? Nina?" Jax asks him.

Lip sighs as he doesn't even fucking know what has him wired. Although this time Nina's presence doesn't bother him too much. With her return to Charming a few days ago, she only talked him through text and when she did it was about Isla and she could see her.

Fawn and him were cool. She was off doing her own thing.

Isla was good.

His sister seemed good and Abel was coming home.

He just seemed to be in a fucking rut and what went down wasn't helping his mood.

"I just need to get laid."

. . .

Cheyenne smiles as she holds Abel. She's fighting to keep the tears at bay considering that only now when he is on the cusps of four months she is able to bring her baby boy home. And while she still has this privacy before Gemma and Jax arrive, she allows herself to finally feel that fear that she almost lost her son. Now with holding him in her arms and feeing his weight, it makes it much more real that she could've lost this. She might have never gotten this opportunity to really be a mother.

"You're so perfect," she whispers to her sweet little boy.

And he is perfect. His hair is just a wisp of gold like his own father. Abel's eyes are this amazing blue but his pupils are encased in a rim of grey.

Since Abel has been growing she has been trying to find herself in this little baby, but it seems Abel will be taking after his father.

And it's real that she and Jax are parents to this perfect little boy. She has a kid with Jax Teller. A kid that they will raise together and have to protect forever. And despite Gemma's words with her about Jax having a lot of responsibilities in his life, she knows that none of those responsibilities compare to what it will mean to raise Abel.

Cheyenne knows that she will never know love like she does when it comes to this little boy.

She smiles as Abel coos at her as he tries to grab some of her hair, she lets out a shaky laugh as she smiles down at him.

Abel begins babbling and Cheyenne is startled slightly when Jax comes up from behind her and places a kiss on her cheek before he looks down at Abel with a wide smile.

"Hey little man, we're busting you out of the joint."

Abel's eyes shine up on them and they are rewarded for the first time a smile from their baby boy.

. . .

"You know if you don't pay attention, you're going to fall over with Abel." Jax says from her side and she realizes he has his arm casually thrown over her shoulder guiding her to her car.

"He is just so perfect, Jax. Aren't you ready for all these late night?" She beams causing Jax to chuckle as they reach her car. She straps Abel securely in his car seat and he throws her another smile that makes her even giddier to get him home.

Jax pulls her back into his arms as he brings his forehead down to hers. They stand there in silence before Jax brings his head up and places a kiss on her forehead before they trail to her lips.

The kiss starts simple enough as he holds her against him, but now it has come to a point where neither of them know when to pull back without getting worked up. Cheyenne lets Jax deepen the kiss as his tongue does it's familiar dance against hers. However, Cheyenne ends it after she hears Abel rattling with one of his toys in the car.

"We got to go," she tells him breathlessly.

Jax nods his head and shuts the backdoor while she hops in the driver's side.

. . .

With Jax following, they reach home fairly quickly. Cheyenne grabs Abel out of his car seat with Jax following. Before they reach the front door she isn't surprised that Fawn opens it.

"Finally, I thought you two had gone and made another kid." Cheyenne rolls her eyes, but gives Fawn a kiss on the cheek. She is surprised when Fawn and Jax even hugged. Walking further into the house, that seems packed to capacity, their family and friends gather around her, Jax, and Abel.

Cheyenne is in the kitchen sipping on some water as Abel bounces around to everyone. As right now, Abel has found his way to Tig's arms and is looking at the black haired man oddly.

"Aw honey you don't even look like you had a baby. I wish had your rack and ass." Luann greets her with.

Cheyenne will admit she is not close to Otto's Old Lady, but she is probably one of the few people who actually enjoyed LuAnn's company. Cheyenne actually liked LuAnn's blunt nature and her heart panged for the woman whose husband was behind bars and constantly has his visitation taken away since the mid-1990s.

Cheyenne releases a small giggle, even though she still wants to lose a few more pounds, her body has practically reverted back to her pre-pregnancy days. "Of course you do Luann. How is Otto?"

Cheyenne cannot help but frown slightly at the obvious drop of LuAnn's smile a little, "It was nice getting to have those ten minutes with him, but he tells me he is alright. I just wish I could have him at home with me. It just has been so long, I mean I miss his dick," the former porn star admits, "but I miss him you know, I wish he wasn't so violent so he could come home to me, but the club you know."

"I'm sorry Luann."

"Don't be honey," Luann replies as she shakes her head, "Enough with this sadness. This is a happy occasion. Your baby boy is home."

. . .

Lip watches with a smile as Jax passes Abel to Isla, who has a bright smile on her face. Lip can remember the day when Isla was born. He was scared he was going to drop her, but his little girl had pinned him down with her green eyes and iron clad grip on his finger letting him know he had her. And Lip thinks he hasn't ever let his daughter down since.

And now his sister has a baby and if that doesn't bring tears to his eyes he doesn't know what the fuck will.

He watches with a blinding smile as Abel gives his cousin a smile as she talks to him. He knows everyone says that Abel looks like Jax, but all he can see is Cheyenne in him. He still remembers at four when Cheyenne came home from the hospital. She was so tiny in his arms. Just this tiny quiet baby with a head full of dark curls and now she is all grown up.

"You okay?"

Lip looks next to him and he finds Nina standing there watching the same scene as him. He's honestly surprised that she decided to come considering the club's – Gemma's – feelings towards her.

"Peachy," he tells her.

Nina nods her head. "Reminds me of when Isla came home."

Lip nods his head. "We were fucking clueless back then."

"I was. You never were." Nina tells him.

Lip frowns slightly at Nina. "Just stay clean. Isla will know you're trying."

Nina takes a deep breath and he can't help it, but it feels familiar as he drapes an arm across her shoulder and pulls her in and places a kiss on her head.

"You think he still loves her?" Fawn asks Cheyenne.

"Who loves who?" Cheyenne asks her friend as she wraps up another trash bag.

"Lip and Nina."

Cheyenne brings her head up at that and moves to stands next to her friend. She looks at a very old familiar sight of Lip and Nina and Cheyenne is unsure of what to tell her friend. "They just have history, but I don't think he loves her in that way."

Fawn snorts. "Well maybe he should be aware of her feelings because she is very much in love with him."

Cheyenne sighs as she doesn't know what she can tell her friend. She knows if Fawn gave Lip some ultimatums he would easily comply.

"You know, I'm going to head out." Fawn says.

"Fawn?"

Fawn shakes her head. "I'll see you tomorrow let you take a nap while I feed Abel some pixie sticks."

Cheyenne huffs at her friend's diversion tactic. "Okay. See you tomorrow."

After Fawn leaves, Cheyenne integrates herself back into the party. She finds a seat on the couch next to Juice. She finds him a little goofy, but not a bad trait to have around some of the more surly bikers. She finds his loquacious side after she ropes him into a conversation as she mentions some electrical improvements she wants to make in the house.

Bobby soon joins the conversation, but their conversation is interrupted by one of the mechanics, Lowell, coming over with a fussy Abel.

She excuses herself grabbing her baby boy as she nestles him in her arms. His tiny face begins to scrunch up as she makes her way to his room away from the party while his arms begin to flare.

"It's okay, baby, Mommy's here." She soothes as she goes through his drawers for his binkie. She puts the binkie in his mouth and he immediately calms down and his blue eyes began to droop. "Ah someone's tired." His blue eyes close and he nestles his head into her boobs. Like father like son. She thinks as she sits down on the rocker.

She is slightly surprised how fast Abel goes to sleep or she is just too absorbed in her son to realize how the time passed by.

She gets up from the rocker and stills when she sees Jax standing in the doorway. "How long you've been standing there?"

Jax walks into the room as he looks down at their sleeping boy. "A while."

"Creep," she jokes as she places Abel in his crib and tucks him in. Jax comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her. He places his chin on her shoulder. "You okay?" She asks.

Jax's hold tightens around her and he places a kiss on her neck. "It's just real, ya know, him being here. It's not just you and me anymore."

Cheyenne turns around as she cups his cheek as she looks at him directly in his eyes. "It's still me and you, Jax."

He nods his head and plants a soft kiss to her lips which brings a smile to her face. "So baby's asleep. People are heading out," he mumbles as he places a kiss to her lips, jaw, and then neck.

Cheyenne's arms wrapped around his neck while he continues to place maddening and teasing kisses on her neck before she grips his hair and pulls him back.

He smirks at her hooded eyes.

"I hate you."

He flashes a shit eating grin. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, a few kisses and I turn into a fucking waterfall."

His eyes widened before he releases a chuckle and finally kisses her on the mouth. However someone clears their throat interrupting them.

"Save that for the bedroom," Donna drawls while Cheyenne removes her arms from his neck. Jax takes that as his que to go. He places a kiss on Donna's cheek before heading out the room.

Donna walks into Abel's room where she glances at the sleeping boy.

"You seem to be better than the last time we talked," Cheyenne points out.

"Well I'm going to work on my marriage with Opie."

Cheyenne smiles and gives her friend a hug. "That's really great, Donna."

Donna nods her head as a smile tugs at her lips. "I was wondering if I could stay and help clean up?" Donna suggests.

Cheyenne immediately begins protesting, "Oh D you don't have to, I can handle it."

"No, I want to help. Gemma already gave me a list of things we need," she says holding up the list.

"Alright," Cheyenne concedes.

Cheyenne walks to the front of the house and says good-bye to Opie and the kids and some others that are trailing out.

She finds Gemma in the kitchen already beginning to clean up. "So the party was a success. Everyone is excited to see the heir of SAMCRO finally home." Gemma quips.

Cheyenne releases a little laugh at the thought of her son being an "heir".

"Yeah, I'm happy though he is home. This is where the hard work begins I guess. But really thank you Gem for what you been doing throughout my whole pregnancy. I know you really want to be a grandma."

"Speaking of my duties as a Grandma, I already worked out our schedule to watch him."

Cheyenne looks at her in surprise, "Really?"

"Yeah. Give you and Jax some time for yourselves. A date night."

"I don't really find going to the clubhouse on a Friday night a date night." Cheyenne drawls.

Gemma raises an eyebrow at her. "Well with Abel home, you might want to remind some people that a baby hasn't changed anything between you and Jax."

"So we're having this conversation again?" Cheyenne drawls.

"And what conversation is that?" Jax asks as he walks into the kitchen. He gives her a reassuring squeeze on her hip as he goes to the kitchen table and begins munching on some chips. He looks between her and his mom.

Gemma doesn't seem to want to cop to the topic of conversation.

"Gem was just saying that she will watch Abel for us so we can have date nights," Cheyenne tells him.

He raises an eyebrow not really believing her and he turns to look at his mom trying to find the truth, "Really now?"

"Well a new baby is exhausting." His mom adds.

"Right…" Jax replies before his phone begins to buzz. Jax answers his phone and they watch as his face falls. He closes his phone in disbelief.

"What is it?" Cheyenne asks walking up to him.

"Something happened with Donna, there was a shooting." He tells her.

"A shooting," Cheyenne repeats said slowly before the implications smacked her like a wave. "Donna…is..is she…" Cheyenne isn't able to finish her words.

Jax's hands cup her face, "We don't know yet." His eyes go pass her and too Gemma, "Ma, can you stay here till I get back."

. . .

To distract themselves, Gemma and Cheyenne end up cleaning for about 30 minutes before Jax's back is heard in the driveway.

Cheyenne doesn't wait for Jax to come through the door as she opens it taking Jax by surprise. But it's masked by his face that is in pure agony.

"Oh my god." She mutters. "No, no, tell me it was a mistake Jax. Tell me it wasn't her." All she can think about is Opie. She can't imagine the pain Opie is in. And the kids – motherless children.

Jax wraps her in a hug, "I'm so sorry, Chey. D-Donna passed. I'm so sorry."

"No tell me you're lying." She pleads in his arms.

"I can't babe, I'm so sorry." He tells her tightly.

"What happened, oh god, what happened," Cheyenne asks Jax. Her voice cracks as the tears freely fell. Her visible pain even make Jax begin to get teary eyed. Jax can't bear to tell her how Donna even went. Somehow, he is able to get Cheyenne into the house settling her into bed. Her cries are muffled by her pillow.

"You want me to stay here?" His mom asks him as he comes out into the living room.

"No," Jax answers. "I can take care of my family."

"You sure?"

"It is about time I do this Mom."

Gemma walks up to her son and gives him a kiss on his cheek, "Okay, baby."

Jax locks the doors behind his mom and checks on Abel before making his way to the bedroom. Cheyenne's sobs have turned into the occasional hiccup with her body still trembling. Jax removes his layers of clothing and then removes Cheyenne's jeans and socks. He climbs into bed pulling her into him giving her a kiss on the head. In response, she turns over and wraps her arms tightly around him as she buries her head into his chest.

Jax knows nothing he could possibly say will make her feel better. Instead of saying anything he just cradles her closer into him while he hopes he can provide some comfort, solace, while she cries onto his chest for her fallen friend.


	29. The Relevator

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Decided to just get season 1 finished with so next week we can get into season two, territory.

* * *

Cheyenne is sitting in Abel's room feeding him as her mind tries to wrap around how something so tragic happened to Donna. She doesn't understand how someone could even do that to a mother. It didn't take her long to know that Donna wasn't the intended target, but it was still a terrible thing someone did. Someone had made two kids motherless and a man a widow.

After she was able to calm down slightly last night, she managed to ask Jax what exactly happened. She almost threw up with the knowledge that her friend was gone and she went out in the most brutal horrific way for a mother.

Cheyenne couldn't help but pondered if that was going to be her same fate.

She knows deep down in the pit of her stomach this was a result of something from the club, but the person got the wrong target. Whatever had Opie locked up with the Feds was the cause of it or it was somehow connected.

Discarding the empty bottle of milk from Abel, she burps him, changes him out of his dirty onesie and into a fresh clean outfit.

She can't believe her son's homecoming has been clouded with tragedy, but he is oblivious to this. She thinks he is the lucky one right now, but she likes that he doesn't know what's going on. He won't know this pain. If there is one thing she can do as her first thing as a mom it will be to shield him from pain as long as she can.

"I love you so much," she tells Abel as she holds him in her arms.

"How's he doing?"

Cheyenne snaps her head up at Jax, who looks exhausted.

"He's great."

Abel seeing his dad immediately starts squirming, making them both laugh lightly. Jax steps further into the room and joins her on the daybed as he takes Abel from her.

"How are you feeling?" Cheyenne asks. She decides it better to not ignore reality even though she would love to just get lost in their own little world with her their son.

"I don't know. Nobody goes after old ladies so obviously the target was supposed to be Opie. I can't even begin to imagine what Opie is feeling and the kids," he says before kissing Abel's head relishing in being able to hold him. "I never seen Opie so broken, I don't know how he is going to pull through, but all I know is I don't ever want to feel that." He tells her as he drapes an arm across her shoulder.

Cheyenne frowns slightly as she rests her head down on his shoulder. Her hand ghosts over Abel's head before she turns and places a kiss on Jax's chest.

She turns to look up at him and his eyes connect with hers. "Jax know whatever happens, I'm right here. I'll be right here with you."

He smiles as he places a kiss on her forehead.

"How are you feeling?" Jax asks quietly.

Cheyenne closes her eyes as she buries her face in the crook of his neck. She works to hold back some tears, "I am hoping this is just a bad dream, but I know it's not. It hurts… but I am glad I got to see her smile one last time holding Abel and being with her family. I'm just worried about…Opie and the kids."

. . .

Lip groans as the sunlight hits his face. Usually he can ignore the warm sun and just put a pillow over his head. But he feels a little warmer than he usually does and he finds that his arm tingles from a weight on top of it. He opens his eyes that widen in horror at the very familiar shade of brown and last night hits him like a fucking train.

Donna was murdered last night. Not just murdered but brutally shot in the back of the head. He was getting ready to leave with Isla when Clay was sitting on his bike alone smoking a cigar when his phone went off. He saw the complete devastation on his President's face that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

He had asked if Nina could take Isla home before he had went over to Clay to ask what happened when Jax had torn out of the house frantic. Lip doesn't think he will ever be able to scrub the visual of Donna lying lifeless on a yellow tarp. How Opie had held her still body in his shaky arms and pressed a kiss to her head with trembling lips. It had taken both him and Jax to get Opie to let go of her.

He can't imagine that pain Opie is feeling.

And after making sure Opie had managed to make it home and calling Mary to come down to help with the kids, Lip had headed home. He had found Isla already in bed, but Nina was still up sitting on the couch picking at the holes in her jeans.

He doesn't think he had said anything to her. He was sure his face had told her some shit went down. Instead he had gone into Isla's room to make sure she was okay. Pressed a kiss to her hair and just inhaled her fruity perfume. He had to have sat there for a good ten minutes before he had moved from his spot.

When he got up he shouldn't have been surprised that Nina had followed as she stood unsure on the doorframe.

He had met her in the hallway and for some reason he gave her a hug. He thinks he mumbled that Donna was killed after she asked what happened. He isn't too sure. He knows that he was the first one to lean in and press his lips against hers. He feels guilty because he knows that he still has ties in her. Knows that she is hoping on him to allow some sort of reconciliation and he took advantage of that.

It was familiar between them even though it's been years since he sought her out for that comfort.

He runs a hand down his face and Nina begins to stir against his chest. She freezes once she seems to realize where she is at.

"Morning," he tells her.

She moves up off his chest as she uses the sheet to cover herself.

"Morning." She replies quietly.

Lip sighs as he sits up and turns to his side table as he rummages for his pack of cigarettes. He knows that it's no use in beating around the bush. "Look –"

"I know this didn't mean anything," Nina says cutting him off.

"Nina –"

She shakes her head. "It's okay."

"I never want to hurt you, Nina."

"I know, but it's inevitable."

. . .

"Hey Mary," Cheyenne greets as she walks into Opie's house with Jax, who is carrying Abel in his car seat.

"Hi guys," Mary responds clearly exhausted before she looks at Abel, "oh aren't you just precious; you two did make a handsome fellow."

Jax sets Abel on the coffee table in the living room and runs his hand over Abel's forehead, making the little boy smile, "Where is he?"

"Outside, with the kids," Mary informs sadly as she looks at the sliding door where the backyard was in plain view.

"It's good you are here Mary," Jax adds before he goes out the door.

Cheyenne takes Abel out his carrier before he starts fussing and to take advantage of every moment she can hold her boy. She looks around the house, which is now cold.

Donna's absence is felt everywhere in the house, walking in the living room it is decorated with pictures of the kids, and happy times between Opie and Donna. The happiest one is the one of Opie and Donna on their wedding day with Opie caressing her pregnant belly.

"They looked so happy didn't they?" Mary notes from the doorway, "I thought she would have been able to show him there is more outside of the Life, but look what happens. My son is a widow and my grandkids don't have a mother. She was such a nice woman. A wonderful mother." Mary picks up a photo of Donna smiling brightly into the camera. It's a rare candid of the brunette and she wonders where it exactly came from. But Donna looks so happy in it and Cheyenne has to turn away from it. Mary doesn't seem to notice her pain as she places the photo down and gives her a sad smile "I don't want the same for you." Mary admits as she grabs another photo and hands it to her. Cheyenne accepts the picture and it's of her, Donna, Opie, and Jax at Opie's welcome home party.

Cheyenne swallows the lump that forms in her throat. "If you need help with the kids I am here. I can take them to school and pick them up, or keep them at my house. Plus I am pretty sure there are sports and other things we can sign the kids up for that Donna wanted for them."

"No honey you don't need to do that, you have Abel you need to focus on him."

"Mary, I want to help, please let me." Cheyenne insists.

"Alright, I am sure Opie won't mind anyways."

At that moment, Lip and Isla come walking through the door.

"Hey," Lip greets as he walks through the door. He hugs Mary first before he comes over and hugs her tightly the best he can with Abel in her arms. "You okay?"

Cheyenne nods her head. "Yeah."

He nods his head as he makes way for Isla to come through, who gives her a hug.

"You okay, sweetie?" She asks her niece.

"I don't know." Isla tells her.

Jax and Opie along with the kids walk back in, Cheyenne goes up to Opie and tries to give him the best hug she can with holding Abel.

"Can I hold him?" Opie asks gently.

"Of course, Ope," Cheyenne says handing Abel over. Turning to her nieces and nephew she gives each of them a hug which they all surprisingly return.

"Can we hold him after daddy?" Ellie asks after her and Isla embrace in a tight hug.

"Yeah, of course." Cheyenne tells them.

"Come on Dad, let's sit on the couch," Kenny says looking up at his dad. Listening to his kids they all make their way to the living room couch. Lip and Isla follow.

Jax standing on the sidelines gently grabs Cheyenne motioning he needs to talk to her. She follows him back into a spare room in the house. "I got to go to church to get an update on things; Opie said the funeral is tomorrow, no wake."

"Okay, I will stay here till Abel gets fussy. I offered to help take care of the kids too. I know Opie…I know Opie is going to need the help."

"They would like that," Jax says as he leans down and presses his lips desperately against hers. His hand weaves into her hair as he clutches it and their bodies press against each other. Jax is the first one to pull away. His eyes unreadable and a part of Cheyenne didn't want him to go, but to stay with her.

"You stay safe, okay." She tells him.

He nods his head before giving her one last kiss and Lip follows him out the door.

"This is a fucking mess," Lip tells Jax as they walk out the door.

Jax nods his head, but thinks mess doesn't properly categorized what the club has found themselves in.

He doesn't even know where to start except about the botched hits that happened from the Niners during their deal with the Mayans. But even if Laroy was pissed, he doesn't think he would make that grave of a mistake to accidently kill the wife of a member. That was a hell no crew would want tainting them. It was bad for business.

But even then, the worst is that he is unsure of how to exactly help his friend. This is a grief he doesn't even know how to balm even a little bit.

"Right now, we need to just focus on Ope and the kids," Jax says as he looks back at the house.

Lip nods his head in agreement. "This shit changes things bro. Changes the whole game."

"I know. The last thing we need right now is a war." Jax tells him.

"I just can't even imagine…"

"I know," Jax says finishing his thoughts. Jax thoughts ponder as to what he would do if he ever lost Cheyenne. The thought is so abhor that he can't even picture knowing that type of pain. He can't imagine Abel having to live his life without his mother. He already doesn't like that he even now has to think losing Cheyenne to this Life is even a possibility.

Jax takes one look back at Opie's house before he puts on his helmet and drives away with Lip following.

. . .

Cheyenne walks back in the living room where Isla, Kenny, and Ellie are playing with Abel while Opie has him across his lap.

"Auntie Lina, I think Abel went to the bathroom," Kenny informs them by plugging his nose.

Cheyenne picks up Abel, who did smell, "You don't want to help me change a diaper?"

"Eww, no, that's gross, auntie." Kenny says making a face.

"I do," Ellie volunteers from next to Isla.

"I'll help too." Isla adds.

"Okay come on lets go to the kitchen."

Isla grabs Abel's diaper bag. Ellie guides Cheyenne to her room instead of the kitchen. Her room is practically spotless, the walls are a deep purple, with posters of various Disney princesses.

"You can change him on my bed," she says.

"You want to do it? I can guide you." Cheyenne offers as Isla sets out the stuff she needs.

"It's real easy, El," Isla tells her.

"And how would you know that?" Cheyenne asks.

"Some of the girls from dance have younger siblings," Isla informs her.

"I am scared, what if I hurt him, like…" Ellie speaks up and doesn't finish her thoughts and gets teary eyed.

"Hey honey, you're not going to hurt him," Cheyenne assures as she sets Abel on the bed, "come here, we'll do it together."

She guides her through the steps from showing her what is the back and front of a diaper. With boys make sure that they cover his privates just in case he peed, and when to use baby powder and diaper cream.

"See… look that wasn't so hard." Cheyenne tells her while Abel babbles happily from being changed.

"He is really cute, one day I hope I become a mom," Ellie says.

"Well let's hope not too soon, you will give me, your dad, and Uncle Jax a heart attack." Cheyenne says as she tickles Abel's belly. "You can hold him, El."

"I don't want to drop him, Mommy said he was sick."

"Here sit on the bed," Cheyenne tells her and passes Abel to her, "Abel was sick, but now he is getting better. We just have to be careful, but he is fine."

Ellie nods while Abel seems content with being passed around and the center of attention. "He looks like Uncle Jax."

"Yeah, he does." Cheyenne says with a smile. "I'm going to see if your Grandma needs help."

"We got it Aunt Chey," Isla assures.

Isla watches as her aunt leaves and she turns to her friend who is holding her little cousin. Isla is unsure of how to help her friend. This was something out of her scope. She knew how to help Ellie when Uncle Opie was in prison. Isla was familiar with that type of pain. Her mom was gone in her drug abuse to be there, but she was still alive.

Aunt Donna wasn't going to come back.

Aunt Donna was gone.

"I'm sorry, El." Isla says eventually.

Ellie nods her head as she stays focused on Abel. "It's not fair."

"I know, but I'll be here. You have me." Isla tells her friend.

Ellie gives her a shaky smile.

. . .

Leaving the girls watching Abel, Cheyenne had found Mary and the two women had begun to clean the house and organize the various dishes neighbors had brought as sympathy. Cheyenne doesn't understand why people think eating will help alleviate grief. Sometimes she thinks people only drop by just to be nosey. To criticize how a house is going to turn into a shrine for the decease.

But a couple hours pass and Isla brings out a fussy Abel. Cheyenne thinks it's time to go home herself. She realizes despite her and Mary cleaning that Opie or Kenny hasn't made an appearance. Mary offers to hold Abel while she searches for Opie.

She finds him in Kenny's room sitting in a gaming chair. She can tell he hasn't slept at all.

"Opie, I need to go home, I can come back early in the morning to help get the kids ready." She tells him from the doorway.

Opie looks at her. His eyes are vacant. There is no life in his eyes, just sorrow, remorse, and regret. Opie turns back to Kenny, who is sleeping; he kisses him on the head and makes his way out in the hallway. "How is she?"

"She's in her room. Isla's still here. If you want me to take her home I can."

Opie shakes his head. "I think it's good she's here. Lip can come get her later. In the morning though, I can handle it."

"Opie it's fine I can help." Cheyenne insists.

Opie doesn't seem to hear her words as his eyes go glossy. "Is this my fault? Did I cause this-"

"Opie Winston, do not even go there." Cheyenne states firmly. "The only ones to blame is the one who gave the order, and pulled the trigger. Do not blame yourself. I will see you tomorrow at the service, and after we can talk about how we are going to take care of the kids. I will call later to check up on them, and make sure they have my number so they can call me whenever."

Cheyenne brings Opie in another hug. He hugs her tightly in return.

"I'm glad Jax has you in his life. You'll take care of him."

Cheyenne smiles sadly at Opie. "Of course, Opie."

. . .

After church, Lip finds him riding to where Fawn works at the diner. Parking his bike he spots her through the window serving food. As he enters, he can tell she isn't exactly thrilled to see him.

"Can I talk to you?" He asks as he approaches her not caring that she was writing an order.

She looks at him as she nods her head as she finishes her order. He follows her as she drops the order off and yells out that she's taking five.

She leads him to the break room that is empty and she closes the door and locks it.

"How's Opie?" She asks him.

"I think still in shock," Lip tells her. "How are you doing?"

Fawn shrugs her shoulders. "I can't believe something like this happened."

"Probably makes you want to leave Charming even more," Lip points out.

"Is this really what you wanted to talk about?" She asks him.

Lip furrows his brows. "I just want to make sure you're okay."

"Well I'm not your concern anymore Lip," Fawn counters. "Worry about Nina."

That comment takes him back, "What?"

"I'm not stupid. I saw how you two were acting last night," Fawn spits at him. "I know you Lip. I know how all of guys handle emotions and Nina is more than willing to help you with that. Don't lie to me about it either."

Lip purses his lips together. "I never know what you want from me, Fawn."

He never does. Honestly it sort of reminds him of Tig, he never knows which way is up with the Tragers. It's like Jekyll and Hyde. It's whiplash.

Fawn looks at him with her crazy blue eyes, "Maybe you haven't been listening then. I got to get back."

She sits up and goes to leave, but he pulls her back taking her by surprise as he cradles her face and presses a kiss to her lips before he leaves the room.

. . .

Arriving back home, Cheyenne spots Gemma's car parked on the street. Cheyenne carefully grabs a sleeping Abel in his car seat. Entering the house she finds Gemma doing some last minute cleaning from the party. Cheyenne gives Gemma a wave and goes to Abel's room putting him in the crib and turns the baby monitor on. Walking back into the kitchen, she looks at her spotless house. "Gem, you don't need to do this." She tells her as she wipes out the kitchen sink.

"It's fine, cleaning distracts my mind from the madness sometimes." Gemma tells her.

Cheyenne understands where she is coming from as she sits down at the table, "I can't believe this happened to Donna of all people. You should have seen Opie and the kids; I don't know how they are going to make it through this."

"They are going to make it through this because they have us, and the club." Gemma says with conviction.

Cheyenne isn't too sure. "Gem, to be honest I wouldn't be surprised if Opie backs away from the club, he is already blaming her death on him."

"That's just the grief, so is Mary still there?"

"Yeah, for now. I offered to help with the kids. I'm on maternity leave now and will have the time.

Gemma gives her a fond smile. "That is real sweet of you. Those kids love you."

"Yeah, it seems Abel brings them comfort though, Ellie learned how to change his diaper, I think I found a babysitter."

"Well let's hope she doesn't take my gig anytime soon. Jax with Opie?"

"No, he said he to deal with some club stuff." She informs Gemma.

"How are you dealing with all this?"

Cheyenne purses her lips as she plays with the salt and pepper shakers on the table. "I don't know how to deal with it; I know I need to be strong for Jax, Opie, and the kids. I just- it's hard thinking she isn't here anymore."

"That is what makes you a good Old Lady," Gemma says patting Cheyenne's hands, "I'm going to head out and check on the garage. You call me if you need anything."

Cheyenne nods her head as Gemma presses a kiss to her cheek. It isn't until after Gemma leaves that she realizes that Gemma referred to her as Jax's Old Lady.

. . .

There were a lot of secrets and lies Gemma has been able to bury and to navigate around. Despite being able to live with certain lies, it didn't mean they didn't weigh on her. Even though she didn't let anything come between her and her family and the club, it didn't mean she didn't give herself time to reflect especially when shit starts to unravel – when things begin to get unburied.

Despite a part of her wanting to scream and shout at Clay for making such a horrid mistake with Donna getting killed, she knows as an Old Lady it's her job to help guide Clay through these turbulent waters. She knows that Clay being a President of an outlaw requires him to make extreme choices for the better of many and not the few like her own son.

Yet, she knows what has happened with Donna needs to be kept close to the vest. And now with Jackson coming back from that ambush Piney tried to do to the Niners, she knows that the truth has been exposed. And from she has already read from the burned manuscript written by John she doesn't like where this could possibly lead.

She watches as Clay enters the office and shuts the doors.

"He knows."

"What?" Clay asks confused.

"Jackson knows something about Donna." She explains.

"He doesn't know shit." Clay counters.

Gemma stands up from her office chair. "Listen to me." She tells her husband firmly, "He knows everything. She goes into her purse and takes out the burned manuscript that Jax had tried to keep hidden. "This was in one of his boxes. It's what he found in storage when Abel was born." As she holds the burned book all she feels is anger. Anger at John Teller for poisoning their son and she hates that John has always had a strong hold over their son. She knows she is partially to blame for that. She never let Jax know who his father was. Even when she was grieving for Thomas and having to live with the knowledge that John had created a family while always escaping to Ireland, not once has she let her hate for John bleed onto Jax. Instead, she had made sure that Jax knew John the way she wanted to remember him – the man she had met when she was 18. She clutches the manuscript as it crinkles as she shows it to Clay. "He wrote it all down- all his pathetic hopes and dreams."

She watches as Clay's features morph into pure anger as he swipes the book. "This is a book of failures and fixes." He tells her as he throws it onto the desk.

"John is speaking to him from the goddamn grave!"

"You're being hysterical."

"I told you to nail Jax down, bring him closer!"

"This is a bunch of words. It's a bunch of shit!"

It means everything to my Jax! I know my son." She tells Clay. She knows Jax better than anyone like how she knew John. "He is restless, just like his old man. Always lookin' for something more, the reasons why. This shit is gonna send him on a destiny run. Readin' those secrets, finding out about the Donna mistake. What happened to John- I cannot do that again not with him." Gemma tells her husband. She wouldn't even know what to do if she has to watch Jax follow John's footsteps. It would fracture the club more than the Donna mistake.

Clay's eyes narrow as he tries to keep his emotions capped. Gemma knows that whenever John is mentioned especially during his later years it tugs at Clay. She would label it as betrayal. She knows when Clay's heart does bleed in a blue moon; she knows he feels his betrayed John. "Now, you listen to me. What he read there were the ramblings of a bitter, grieving coward. I mean, look at it. It's halfway burned. It probably pissed him off! So don't tell me he's poisoned! And this shit with Donna- There's nothing to know. So you better calm down. This is about your fear, your history. You stop bleedin' all over him! And finish burnin' that."

"What about Lip?" Gemma questions.

She watches as Clay freezes. If Jax tells Lip the truth she knows that the two of them could be lethal. If Lip ever manages to read that manuscript and knowing if Jax sways Lip using Isla things could unravel. They were barely lucky with what happened with Lionel. And now Cheyenne was interwoven in this world. Lip was a loose cannon when it came to the women in his life. If Lip found out Clay had killed his best friend's wife, she's sure that Lip would rip Clay's head off and put it on the Reaper pole.

"Burn it," Clay orders as he slams the office door shut.

Gemma walks to the window and peeks through the blinds. "You are losing control just like he did."

. . .

Jax looks at his son, who is sleeping peacefully in his crib. He prays that his son will never know how twisted this Life he lives is. He hopes his son won't have to inherit this mess Clay hasn't gotten the club in.

Jax knows that he and Clay have always had their ups and downs since Jax realized that Clay and his mom were a thing and going to get married. He had a problem with his uncle suddenly turning into a step-father. There was a lot of push and pull he and Clay had to navigate around considering he was mourning his father. Yet, they had gotten through it. Jax now has looked at Clay more as a father more than his own dad some days.

And he thinks over all the pain he feels for Opie and his family, he thinks what hurts the most is the fact a man he loves like a father had lied straight to his face about trusting Opie wasn't a rat and then got Donna killed by mistake from paranoia.

And now Clay was fine with killing a 17 year old girl. Tig didn't even seem to question what the hell he was doing as if cleaning someone else was going to make up for the fact he had brutally murdered Donna.

He knew this life they lead was pretty or easy but there were certain lines he knew they never crossed.

He prays that Abel will never know this. He leans over and presses a kiss onto his son's head.

He heads into the bedroom where he finds Cheyenne sleeping in bed. His lips tug up as she has kicked off all the covers and it hugging a pillow. He knows that later in the night she will wake up searching for the blanket as she can never find a temperature that suits her. He quietly strips off his clothes and makes sure he shoots them in the hamper.

He goes to his side of the bed and slides in. Cheyenne is already facing his direction as she sleeps. A finger weaves into her curly hair and he wonders what he did in his life to deserve someone like her. How could someone like her want someone like him? He has a ledger of red that he fears will bleed over onto her. And she has offered her body and soul to him – she had his goddamn child. And he waits for the day she will run for the hills or maybe even turn into what Opie's prison sentence had done to Donna.

He leans forward and presses a kiss to her forehead before he leans his own against hers. He doesn't mean to wake her, but she does.

She pulls back from him, "You just get home?"

He nods his head. He expects her to maybe scold him, but she doesn't.

"I missed you," she admits to him.

He knows he is lucky to have someone like Cheyenne in his life and he isn't going to spend another minute convincing himself he doesn't deserve her because he knows he never will. If anything, she'll help make him a better person.

He pushes those thoughts away as well as everything that has happened in the past 24 hours as he presses a greedy kiss to her lips. She lets him as she sighs into the kiss. The pillow that was between them is gone and they are chest to chest. His hands itch up his shirt that she is wearing before he whips it off her body. His lips trail from her neck down to stomach. He expects a flinch from her as he knows she has been self-conscious since pregnancy, but her legs open up to accommodate him. He presses kisses all over her belly before he stops at the edge of her panties.

Jax glances up at her, her grey eyes sparkling like the faint moonlight that illuminates the room. He slowly removes her panties down her legs before he throws them behind him. He lowers his head between her legs and draws his tongue up her in a long, lingering pass.

Jax can say that he isn't one for cunnilingus unless he really _really_ trusted and liked the girl enough. He wasn't about to put his mouth on something that was a high traffic zone. But he wouldn't have the reputation he did if he didn't have skills in all areas of the bedroom.

However, he thinks he hasn't been with any girl that is as responsive – sensitive – as Cheyenne. It doesn't take him long to have her beautiful body bucking against him. She's writhing by time he puts his hands between them and lifts her hips to an angle more of his liking. She twines her fingers in his hair as another clutches the bed sheet tightly. "Want you to come for me, Cheyenne," he says against her inner thigh.

He watches her reaction as he begins to take her apart again with slow strokes of his tongue. He slips a finger in her, which makes her keen, but when he begins to suck, she explodes.

And then he is moving back up her body as he kicks off his boxers as he fills her. His mouth moves against her drinking in her cries of pleasure. She wraps her legs around him as he moves fast, hard, and relentless that she meets with every thrust. He kisses her neck and whispers hot things in her ears that make her cry out louder. It isn't long before she's trembling on him and dragging him into his own orgasm.

He moans. His length deep inside her as she milks him, the slick of his come spilling onto her thighs. He plasters himself against her as he kisses her stealing away the little breath they already had.

. . .

Cheyenne blinks herself awake as she can feel the sun rays hitting her exposed skin. She turns her head expecting to see Jax, but his side of the bed is empty. She furrows her brows and thinks he might be with Abel, but she hears a crash come from the bathroom.

She moves off the bed and grabs Jax's shirt he had discarded quickly from her body and throws it back on.

She moves to the bathroom and she spots Jax sitting on the toilet seat with the first aid kit. She furrows her brows as she didn't even realize that Jax was hurt last night.

"Are you okay?" She asks.

His eyes look up at her startled and she makes note of his busted lip and bloody knuckles.

"I'm fine," he tells her as he looks back into the kit.

Cheyenne sighs as she walks into the bathroom and grabs the kit from him and all the things he will need to clean his wounds. She moves between his thighs and starts his lip with no protest from him. It's silent as she makes quick work of wiping away the crusted blood on the corner of his mouth.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" She asks as she throws away the soiled alcohol wipes.

"You remember when I was teaching you how to ride your bike and you fell into those bushes and scraped your legs and arms?" He asks her.

Cheyenne folds her arms across her chest confused on why he was bringing that up. But she remembers that very well. He had been stuck babysitting her and decided to teach her how to ride a bike in his mom's driveway. Then she did fall into some bushes that did leave some nasty cuts. "Yeah."

"And I remember you were crying so hard and I'm freaking out because you're crying and that you're hurt. But do you remember when I began cleaning your cuts?"

Cheyenne shakes her head.

"You told me that you were crying because you didn't want to see me get in trouble." Jax tells her. "I remember thinking – feeling – that I couldn't stand the thought of you in pain. I couldn't bear it and you're sitting here thinking about me while you're bleeding."

"Jax?"

Jax grabs her hands as he places a kiss on her knuckles. "I love you, Cheyenne." He tells her.

Cheyenne looks at him in shock and his hands tighten on hers. "I want you to be my Old Lady. But I don't want to lose you Chey. With happened with Donna… I love you so fucking much it scares me, and then you give me a son… I wonder what I did in this life to fully deserve you. You and Abel make me want to change become a better man and father..." She watches him trail off. "I have no right asking you to stay here…with my burdens…but I need you. I want you."

Cheyenne's hand comes up to Jax's face as she runs a finger down his cheek. She's too taken back by his words. "I'm not going anywhere," she tells him. Some of the tension seems to leave his shoulders as he brings her into a hug with his head resting between her breasts. She holds him tightly as she runs her fingers through his hair.

And they stay this way for a while and it feels right. It feels like home with Jax.

"I love you, too." She tells him.

. . .

Fawn has noticed that her dad as seemed out of it all day. He had held it together pretty well at the funeral, but since they arrived at the clubhouse for the reception, she has noticed that he was burying whatever he was feeling in a bottle. He had almost this thousand yard stare.

She knows that what has happened to Donna is fucking tragic. She was close to Donna and she knows most of the guys are really grieving for Opie. However, her dad didn't make it to get close to the old ladies. The only one she has ever seen him engage with and seemed to respect was Gemma. And she knows that her dad and Donna couldn't have talked more than a handful of times. She thinks the only reason Donna probably knew her dad's name was because of his eccentric behavior that had leaked outside of the clubhouse. But as she looks at her father, an ex-Marine, that had probably seen so much shit that had made him into the sociopath her mom claims to be, she knows that the undoing of men always comes down to a woman.

Maybe Donna's death reminds him of his first old lady he lost due to an accident on the high way. The ghost of a woman her dad had no problem in throwing in her mom's face.

But with death hovering over the clubhouse, she decides maybe it is time to extend an olive branch to her father.

She goes over to where he is sitting at a table by himself with a couple of shot glasses and a bottle of Vodka. She didn't think her dad was a Vodka person.

"Hey, Dad," she greets as she takes a seat.

His glossed eyes look over to her, but they brighten instantly. "Fawn…baby…how you doing?"

"I'm okay considering the circumstances. I can see how your handling it."

Tig smiles sadly as he looks at the bottle. "Sometimes you just need to let loose besides what I really want won't be here until after hours."

"Gross, Dad."

"Sorry, baby." He apologizes. He sits up in his chair as he runs a hand through his crazy black hair. "How are you and Lip?"

"I notice everything Fawny," her dad says with a smile. "But what happened? You two seemed happy?"

"I'm not ready for a relationship." She tells her father. "And Lip…I want him to be happy and I don't think that is with me." They both look out where Lip is standing with Isla. Her eyes trail the clubhouse where they land on Nina talking to April Hobart.

"Fawn –"

"It was mutual, Dad. So please don't do anything drastic."

"No promises," he tells her with a Cheshire grin. "You know I love you, right?"

"I know, Dad."

. . .

Jax excuses himself from Chey and Abel as his mom came over to keep them company. He presses a deep kiss to her lips telling her lips before he departs. He was still reeling from all that has happened in the last 24 hours. But none of it pales in comparison to what he had confessed to Cheyenne in their bathroom.

He doesn't know why it even took them so long to even say those words to each other or why he was hesitant to declare her his old lady. He throws his mom a hesitant smile before he makes his way through the clubhouse.

For some reason, to him, it feels wrong that they would have anything at the clubhouse for Donna considering she hated the club. He is surprised Opie didn't insist on having the reception at his house, but in hindsight maybe it was better they had it here. He doesn't think Donna would've appreciated multiple patches in her own home especially her killers.

Jax climbs up to sit on the roof of the clubhouse to clear his mind from the truth about Donna's murder. He doesn't know how he is supposed to share a patch with Clay or Tig. The worst part is he knows he can't tell Opie. He feels like shit he has to lie to his best friend.

He is swarmed with guilt that maybe if he let Opie leave the club like he wanted Donna wouldn't be dead right now. Jax feels he and the club are at fault for what happened to Donna. They let Clay get big and powerful behind that gavel. He doesn't know how he never realized the path that Clay and all of them set on was a bloody and poisonous one. The words of his father's manuscript swirls around his head and now he has a brand new copy considering his burnt one disappeared. At least, he has Piney on his side.

Jax take a long drag of his cigarette and is surprised when he sees Lip making his way up to the roof.

"You okay, bro?" Lip asks as he lights his own cigarette.

"Had better days," Jax says.

"Haven't we all," Lip agrees.

"So you and Nina?" Jax asks. He had noticed that Nina and he seemed to be cordial. Isla was talking to her. It was weird seeing what could've been if Nina stayed clean.

"Nah, she's leaving the day after tomorrow. That ship has sailed."

"You and my sis seem different. Finally had that talk."

Jax nods his head.

"I'm only telling you once Jax, I'll never forgive you and will forget this patch I wear if you ever hurt my sister. You hurt her, you also hurt my nephew, remember that."

. . .

Cheyenne clips Abel's onesie back on and tickles her baby's belly, which earns her a couple giggles. She picks up her boy and presses a couple kisses to his cheeks. He smiles at her as he babbles and she thinks that he looks way too much like Jax.

She goes to turn towards the door but jumps when she finds Opie standing in the doorway.

"Sorry," Opie says as he steps into the room. "I just need a minute away from the crowd."

Cheyenne nods her head. "I think this little guy does too."

"You sure?" Opie says and his lips tug up slightly. "Seems he likes the attention. Gets that from Jax."

Cheyenne huffs, but doesn't disagree.

"Can I hold him?"

"Of course. You're his uncle," Cheyenne says as she passes Abel over.

Opie accepts Abel and its weird seeing such a small body in Opie's gigantic arms.

Opie feels lighter holding Abel. He thinks maybe because he is an innocent baby not yet tainted by the grief and death that surrounds them.

He thinks he even smiles at Abel. He thinks how Donna couldn't stop saying how much the baby looked like Jax, but she prayed that the baby got Cheyenne's brains.

Yet, he thinks he can see both Cheyenne and Jax in Abel. And he knew no matter what, Chey and Jax were going to have their hands full no matter who Abel took after the most. As a father he can say no matter what kids was always a potent mixture of their parents.

As he takes in Abel's innocent features, he prays this little boy will never experience the pain his own children are facing now. And as an uncle he will do anything to make sure that it doesn't happen.


	30. Somber

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Finally in season 2 territory! Season 2 is my fav season of SONS as it's the one I rewatch the most. Hopefully you guys will like the things I added or expand upon. As always thanks for the reviews and follows. And sorry for any grammar and spelling errors. Also there will be no update next weekend.

until then.

* * *

 **PART 2: Muddy Waters**

"If you're honest with me there is no truth that I won't be able to handle."

* * *

At first Cheyenne isn't sure she heard him right. She thinks that maybe he isn't even speaking English to her. She knows it shows on her face as she eyes the depressed man in front of her. She goes to open her mouth, but Jax squeezes her shoulder as a warning.

Her nostrils flare at these stupid social protocols she now needs to follow as an Old Lady. If Jax or Lip weren't about to call their friend out on his bullshit, she was. Besides, her title as an Old Lady didn't change the fact that Opie was like a brother to her. Didn't change that she loves Opie and wants the best for him and with that it meant she was entitled to call him out on his shit.

"I need to do this – for me." Opie repeats to her. "I need to get away for a bit."

"For how long?" Cheyenne asks as she looks into Opie's dark eyes. It's obvious he hasn't been sleeping as there are dark purple bruises under his eyes. She's unsure if he has even showered because it's obvious that he has neglected shaving as his beard is growing wildly.

"I called Mary. She has no problem coming down while I'm gone."

"How long Opie?" Cheyenne repeats.

"Ope, you take all the time you need," Jax interjects as he moves from Cheyenne's side and over to Opie.

Cheyenne bites her lip as Jax shoots her a look that clearly reads to calm down. Cheyenne takes a forceful breath to Abel's head.

"You can at least say goodbye to the kids," Cheyenne tells him before she walks into the kitchen.

Jax bites his lip as he holds back his sigh as Cheyenne walks away clearly angry.

"Sorry bro," Opie tells him.

Jax looks over at him confused wondering why he is apologizing for anything.

"I know once I leave she's going to bitch at you," Opie clarifies.

Jax huffs at that, but doesn't deny it.

"You're going to have to get used to that. Women bitch all the time." Opie tells him as his lips quirk up a bit. He struggles to maintain or even do such a simple facial expression. Jax knows it's because Opie is about to become loss in the memory of Donna.

"I wouldn't let Chey hear you say that," Jax tells him.

"She's not too bad. After all, she is willingly putting up with your shit."

Jax shrugs his shoulders as he leads Opie to the door. "You be careful out there, bro. Take all the time you need."

Opie nods his head as they give each other a departing hug.

Jax walks back into the kitchen where he finds Cheyenne feeding Abel. Opie's bike growls echo in the background before they fade.

"He could've at least said goodbye to his kids." She says.

"Chey, he just lost his wife," Jax says. And if Opie really knew the truth about Donna, he is sure Opie would go down a rabbit hole that he would never get out of.

"He's a parent, Jax –"

"Chey…" Jax interrupts.

"What?" She asks with narrowed eyes.

Jax walks closer to her as he leans against the table. "He needs time. If this is what Opie needs right now, I'm not going to deny him that."

Cheyenne shakes her head as she takes the empty bottle from Abel and passes their son into his arms. "So you're just okay with it?"

Jax bites his lip as he doesn't know what to say or exactly feel. There wasn't an exact manual when it came to dealing with grief. Opie just lost the love of his life and Jax probably can't even comprehend how someone could live with that especially since it was a violent passing.

"You can't judge someone for how they grieve." Jax tells her.

"I'm not or I'm trying not to," she says with a sigh. "I just…if something were to ever happen to me…promise me that you take care of Abel before all else."

Jax furrows his brow at that nonsense. "Chey, nothing –"

"Promise me, Jax."

"I promise."

. . .

Gemma watches from her worn out office chair as Opie and Clay speak in hush tones in the garage. Since Donna's funeral, Gemma has found herself seeking advice from the spiritual world she had longed to abandon. She thinks it's the Preacher side of her family that has ingrained in her that when there are troubles ahead only God could calm the storm. She knows God though won't have any mercy on her and her husband.

She's surprised that Clay has been able to have a handle on his grief around the club as at home it's a different story.

At home he is a man haunted by the burdens of wearing a crown. His shoulders sag that maybe this one decision – a mistake that he admits in the pit of soul – could be the one thing that will undo everything. Better yet, it could be the thing that topples their empire. It might be the key that unlocked the secrets she and Clay worked hard to keep buried in the grave of secrets.

And as Queen, she is the neck that will turn his head whichever way she needs it to for them and the club. She has already done most of the damage control, but making sure she is keeping those who are most affected close.

She has been making daily visits to Opie and his kids. She makes sure the fridge is stocked, laundry is done, and that the house is clean and remains somewhat the shrine to Donna. it's the least she can do to for penance for the way she had treated Donna for the last five years and to Opie for even rationalizing this grave mistake her husband has made.

Even more she had made sure to keep her son close despite his best to create distance. It stings because she knows they both know the truth behind Donna's death and Opie's misery. She knows that it can't help but connect her with Clay and his decisions he makes.

And she feels the pull of being a mother, wife, and old lady. Her loyalty is always to her son. Yet she is in murky waters as that loyalty is also to the club for which she wants her son to one day be the King of. That truth would crumble the club into nothing but dust and the death of her second husband. She knows without a doubt that if Opie wouldn't kill Clay or even Tig for the truth, Jax would have no problem taken vengeance or worse stripping Clay's patch out of his crippling road weary hands.

But she still goes over to Jax's and helps with Abel. She works on strengthen her relationship with Cheyenne. And in so many little ways, she has come to suspect that Jax doesn't have total disclosure with his old lady or he feels it's not good to share this with her. It would only cause an uglier division with Jax and Clay. As she knows if Cheyenne did know the truth, she would be the old lady she knew she had molded by telling Jax that it was time for the changes he sought, but more so, she would help him with the plans and outline of that.

And if Cheyenne knew the truth, it would mean the truth would be exposed to Lip. She can say there wasn't much she could do for Clay in regards to Lip. The truth about Lionel had created a division in them. She knows it wasn't really about Clay killing his dad. It was the fact for 15 years Clay has lied to him about it. It had created the question of what other things Clay has lied to him about.

She watches as whatever Opie has said, Clay seems to agree as they give each other a strong hug and as they pull away she goes back to the desk. She looks preoccupied to hide her being nosey, but it seems her efforts to be nosey are wasted as Opie comes into the office.

He looks terrible. Opie has always been an expressive man and right now his body is exuding misery and grief in masses that it almost chokes her. Her heart breaks a little more as it's always a lady that can manage to turn man into shells of their former selves. Women are always men's downfall.

"Is everything alright?" She asks concerned.

"I'm going away. Mary is going to come down to help with the kids." He tells her.

Gemma nods her head as she looks at the grieving widow. She rejoices internally as time away means retribution for Donna's death doesn't need to be handled right away. With the unsolved murder going cold, it makes it harder to find evidence.

She only stands and embraces him in a tight hug.

"You be safe out there." She whispers to him.

He doesn't say anything as he hugs her tightly back before he walks out the door.

She watches him mount his bike and she's unsure if he will actually come home.

. . .

Lip yawns as he stretches. He tries to work the kinks out of his body. He sighs in relief and he wants to plop back down onto his bed, but he knows he can't. One he can hear the TV echoing throughout the quiet house. Two, being a father is a 24/7 job and right now his whole family is going through a tough time – a horrible time. In all, everything is a fucking mess. Fawn isn't speaking to him. Opie is a grieving widow. Isla is reeling from her Aunt's murder and he suspects that watching her best friend lose a mother has her missing her own. When it comes to the club, he simply does things to meet his requirements as a member since he finds himself unable to look at Clay.

Right now, he only has Isla, Cheyenne, and his baby nephew. On certain days, he debates on his feelings on Jax. Throwing back his covers, he slips out of bed and stumbles down the hall as if he is drunk when he enters the living room.

Isla is still in her pajamas as she watches TV. A bowl filled with cinnamon filtered milk is on the coffee table.

"Morning," he greets as he plops down on the couch.

Isla doesn't say anything to him. She only flickers her eyes over to him as a greeting.

And he knows usually that a lack of response would have warranted a verbal warning as to him it's a sign of disrespect for her to not acknowledge him. But this behavior is something he is used to from her now since Donna's death. She's becoming too old for her young age. It pains him and in the most dark thoughts he fears Nina is emerging in Isla. After all, physically Isla bears the resemblance to his ex-wife. They have the same dark brown hair that is mostly straight with the sparse waves makes an appearance if not styled. Isla possess Nina's fair, pale skin and long limbs. Their green eyes are dark like an emerald, but so expressive. Even if their faces are a mask of calm, their eyes give away to the storm that brews inside them.

It's that, which worries him, that Isla is who Nina was and could've been if she didn't become a junkie. And he doesn't know why he is worried so much as at least it saves her from the fate of becoming like his parents.

But he knows no matter what nothing is going to hurt his relationship with his daughter.

"I know you loved Donna," he tells her although he is sure it didn't need to be stated. Donna was like a mother to her. Aunt was never the right word to describe the young mother. Donna had made sure he didn't flounder as a father. Even with Fawn, Gemma, and his sister, Donna had provided the most help. She had provided his daughter with the motherly comfort no one else never seemed to do when it came to her.

And he had found a new respect for Donna when Opie had gotten locked up for five years. He knows most thought Donna was somehow weak for being angry and pulling away from the club. Even though Lip was loyal to his club and Opie, Donna was the one that had to deal with the consequences of Opie's choices and life. The women had to suffer from the men's fate.

And he wasn't blind to that. He wasn't blind to how women were far more superior and complex to men.

And he had grown to admire Donna and her refusal to even look for the club to help her raise her two babies.

"If you want to talk to me you know you can," he adds hoping for something.

She sighs and the sound twists his insides. "There's nothing to say. Aunt Donna's gone."

Lip looks at her with sad eyes and swallows the lump in his throat. "I know. I know."

. . .

It's becoming a familiar scene now. Cheyenne is surrounded by Isla and Ellie as they do their nails before Cheyenne teaches them the secret that food is the way to a man's belly.

Kenny not interested in that obviously finds entertainment from the TV, Legos, or trails behind him and Lip. Yet, today Kenny is preoccupied with some small hand held device.

Jax, of course, holds Abel. His son coos as he tries to grab his growing beard and hair. His son is nearly three months now and is slowly morphing into a small innocent version of him. He thinks his son is lucky that he is oblivious to what is surrounding him right now. He won't know this pain of losing a mother – betrayal of brothers.

And it is because he is now a father that he can see things clearly now. He can see that the Life he lives can do worst damage than killing a wife of a member.

"Let me see my nephew." Lip demands as he stands up next to him.

Jax presses a kiss to his son's soft blonde hair before he passes him to his Uncle. Jax cannot help, but smile at the scene. He knows that Lip possibly wanted more children – sons – at one point, but it is becoming clear that Isla will be the only child in his life. So Lip has taken his role of uncle seriously.

He thinks Abel has been a nice distraction for everyone as not only does Lip and Isla spend most days here, but his mom's presence has been a strong one too. And for some reason, he finds her presence the most bothersome to his little bubble in his home. He thinks it is mostly because he knows that she knows the truth about Donna. He also suspects that she also stole his burnt manuscript. But with her knowing all the secrets probably behind every one of Clay's lies. It's a truth he doesn't know why it bothers him so greatly until now. Maybe it's the fact she can stare at everyone especially Opie with pure sympathy and yet know the real reason why his wife was taken from him. It's a schism he doesn't know how a person can keep from becoming too wide.

It makes him wonder what else his mom and Clay have told everyone over the years. He is scared to ever figure out if there is more than just the truth of Donna's and Lionel's murders that keeps them together. He wonders how their relationship doesn't become fractured by such a twisted form of love and lies.

But at home he doesn't want to think about the heavy things in his life.

He just wants to focus on Cheyenne and Abel, but he coming to terms with the fact everything is connected in intricate webs.

"I heard Opie left today." Lip says after Abel settles into his arms.

"Said he needed time," Jax replies.

"You shouldn't have let him leave." Lip comments and that takes Jax back.

"It wasn't my choice." Jax says tightly. He isn't one to judge on how a man should grieve for their lost love.

"You could have swayed him to make a different decision."

"So could you." Jax fires back.

"You don't think I did?" Lip replies. "I don't have Opie's ear like you."

"And what would you have wanted me to say?"

"That he had kids. His pain…can't come before them."

"Give him a break, Lip."

Lip rolls his eyes. He loves Opie. He does, but like most of the men he knows that there is a gentle side to them as well as vicious. Yet, Opie…

"There's things you can't come back from. Opie will never come back from this." Even if they find who did this it won't be enough to balm the grief. If anything he thinks it will only make it hurt worse.

"So what are you saying?"

"Opie buried himself in that casket with Donna." Lip points out. Both aren't sure of a way to keep him above ground.


	31. Father to Daughter

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Short chapter. No Chey or Jax. Sometimes I think I might be neglectful of some of my side characters and I don't know where they necessary fit overall for some scenes so here is a little look at them.

Mistakes in grammar and spelling all on me.

As always thanks for all the feedback, faves, and follows.

until then.

* * *

Fawn pulls into the gravel driveway as she looks at the single story cabin. It's surrounded by greenery, a small pond, and there is even a small barn where her dad keeps his Pekin Ducks.

She knows most would be surprised that her father is a simple man inside. Beneath his eccentric behavior is just a man trying to find some peace in his life. Peace he tried to attain by joining the Marines, marrying her mother, and joining the club.

So far it seems only one of those have been able to stave off the darkness she knows consumes her father every day like now.

She doesn't know much about her father. She knows that he joined the Marines at 18 and nothing of his life prior. She doesn't know anything about her grandparents or even his. She doesn't think she has any uncles or aunts because there never has been any mention of them. There has only ever just been him. Even with her mother, her and her sister, her dad still isolated himself from them. Just like he is doing now, she doesn't understand how Donna's death would make him spiral into this dark abyss.

Her dad isn't particularly close with any of the old ladies outside of Gemma. Fawn thinks that more to do with the fact if the men allowed women members, Gemma would most certainly be one. But he doesn't go out of his way to become familiar with them. And yes what happened to Donna was tragic, but it seemed so trivial for her dad to become out of sorts.

But maybe it wasn't as she knows that there was one woman for her dad that he really loved and it wasn't her mother.

It was a piece of her father's past that they were able to unlock once. She and Dawn were messing around with his bike when they had toppled it over and it landed on her. She had never seen her dad so distraught as he ran outside to lift the bike. It seemed whatever dam he had that kept his deepest thoughts had broken as he clutched her tightly and stroked her hair while muttering some other woman's name.

And she remembers that look of betrayal on her mother's face. It was then that her parents' marriage had completely taken a turn for the worst. Her parents' marriage was never a happy one.

From her father she learned that a woman can have many loves in their lives, but a man will ever only have one.

Fawn sighs as she tightens her hold on the grocery bags as she uses her key to unlock the door.

Surprisingly the house is in pretty good condition. She expected it to smell like ass and booze, but it just smells like pine from an evergreen tree. However, what she doesn't expect as she closes the door is to be met with a Glock to the face and the bloodshot eyes of her father.

"Jesus Christ, Dad!" She shouts exasperated.

His hazy blue eyes blink and it seems whatever fog was covering them is lifted as he practically throws his gun across the room. His eyes show pure terror and remorse. "Oh god, Fawn, I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry."

Fawn raises an eyebrow at her Dad. "I've seen worse from you, Dad." She mutters.

His hands come up to his face as he walks away in a daze and collapses in his recliner.

Fawn shakes her head as she goes into the kitchen. Unlike the front of the house, which is pristine, the kitchen is a fucking disaster.

The garbage can is overflowing with empty liquor bottles and beer cans. There is a pot with solid grease on the stove and she is surprised it isn't moldy or the dishes in the sink haven't become a science experiment. And as she goes through the cabinet and fridge, she knows it was a good move in going grocery shopping for her Dad.

She is throwing away expired food and drinks when her Dad finally comes into the kitchen. She eyes him cautiously as he looks like he is recovering from a serious bender and her father is known to be unpredictable.

"What are you doing here, Fawn?" He asks weary.

"Cleaning," she replies stating the obvious.

He gives her a tired stare as he sighs. "Really?"

"It seems you need it. When's the last time you took a shower?" She asks as she sniffs the air and opens the kitchen windows.

"Something happen in town?" He questions as he watches her.

"Can't I just make sure you aren't dead?"

He doesn't reply as he walks over to the counter to help put away some of the groceries. They work in silence as they put things away. It's a silence they are used too. Loaded with unspoken things that both are afraid to say.

Even though Tig hates that there is such a distance between him and his daughter, he will take her anyway he can have her. He knows out of his multitude of sins that mark his soul, his failures as a father are the ones that weigh the most on his heart.

He can admit he stumbled blind into fatherhood and marriage. They weren't things he particularly wanted in his life. They were more of collateral damage. He hates to admit it, but they were. Marrying his daughters' mother was something he did on a whim. She gave great head and handled his certain taste in bed. He thought it was a match made in heaven. The first woman he had loved since Melissa, the love he had lost on the road along with his unborn child.

But it was true good to be true. Colleen couldn't handle him when he was low. She couldn't handle this darkness inside him that was embraced by his brothers. She couldn't balance him out and his two girls had paid the price for it.

He tried to be a good father. He really did, but he didn't know how to be a dad. He didn't have a good example. His own father had bailed when he was 10. His own mother was a raging drunk. And knowing he didn't have much, he thought he would become a military man, but then the things he had done as a Marine had fucked him up.

He didn't know how to comfort his girls as they grew up. He didn't know how to make himself vulnerable to them. Don't get him wrong he loves his girls, but his love gets translated in weird ways.

And now he doesn't have Colleen's crazy ass riding him. Dawn is most likely scheming some poor innocent soul for money. Now there is only Fawn, who is here, but not. Fawn was truly his treasure. The only thing in his life that didn't get too fucked up by his craziness.

And he wonders how he can have such a beautiful daughter like her despite the things he has done in his life.

And he knows deep down, if Fawn ever knew the truth about Donna, he would lose his little girl.

"So are you just here to clean?" He asks her.

Fawn doesn't respond immediately and it's almost as if she doesn't even hear his words. But she evidently puts away the last canned item in her bag as she looks at him with a small smile. "I want to try to make things right between us."

Tig thinks it is some cruel joke. He has just made a man a widow. Children partial orphans and motherless, but here is his daughter trying to extend an olive branch. So Fawn makes lunch and they watch _Smokey and the Bandit_. It isn't until Fawn leaves that the tears follow as he breaks down and his knees wobble and he falls to the floor.

. . .

Isla is coloring with some chalk on the sidewalk and her Dad is a few feet away as he cleans his motorcycle. She teases him on how he treats the thing as if it was another child in the house. She's rewarded with a few squirts of water from the hose that do some damage to her amateur art on the sidewalk.

Isla can tell that it is going to be a quiet day for the Henderson household and better yet, her Dad doesn't seem to be needed at the clubhouse, which is even better.

She lives most for the days that her dad can give her his undivided attention especially now and with what has happened with Aunt Donna. Even though she loves to visit Uncle Jax, Aunt Chey and, baby Abel, she loves just it being her and her Dad some days. After all, it's always been them from the beginning. Plus, with Aunt Donna's murder, it has only made her more stingy and needy of her Dad. She knows not to take anything for granted.

She is in the middle of drawing a simple flower when the mailman approaches. Isla stands up and brushes the chalk dust off her hands as she approaches the worker.

The man flashes a polite smile as he only hands her one envelope. Most surprisingly it's addressed to her. Her once good mood drops as she recognizes the handwriting.

"So what we get today?" Lip asks as he cleans the white walls of his ride.

Isla walks over to her Dad as she holds the envelope.

"It's from… _Mom_."

Her dad's head pops up as he looks at her confused, but then he looks down at the object in her hand.

"It's up to you if you want to read it." He tells her softly.

Isla is unsure of what to do.

Since Donna's passing, she's been having some conflicting feelings about her mom. She's not really sure how she feels about her mother.

She feels like she has lost a lot of time with her mom, which lies solely on her mom for her drug use. And Isla won't ever admit it aloud, but she wants a mom. It doesn't necessarily mean it has to be Nina, but she would like to just have that bond with another woman. For a time she thought it would be Fawn, but clearly there are some things going on that she knows she will never understand as a 10 year old. She had Aunt Donna to a point. Aunt Cheyenne has her own family now.

A part of Isla has come to accept the fact that maybe she will never have a mother. And despite Nina reaching out, she thinks her biological mother is incapable of even being a mother. Isla thinks that maybe it is even a little too late.

Besides, she had her Dad and he's more than enough.

"No," Isla says with a shake of her head. "I'll read it later."


	32. Albification

**Author's Note:** Pardon all the grammar and spelling errors. I am glad you guys are still sticking around despite my update schedule getting wonky due to personal things. Also, just to reiterate, this story does follow the basic structure of canon when it comes to the big picture with hopefully some twists and turns. So just a reminder for those who don't prefer this type of story. And if you're not a fan of this type of fanfiction, I have other stories that are AU and if you go to my tumblr page I have a recs page of soa stories I like with a majority being AU.

until then.

* * *

Cheyenne wakes up feeling warm. Maybe a little too warm, but her body being a little heated isn't the thing that wakes her up. It's the feeling of feathers tickling her skin. The sensation of light touches that trail her body and even dip in places that are not only a little warm, but wet as well, slowly bring her body to life.

"Come on, darlin'," she hears purred in her ear.

She smiles in her pillow as Jax's lips move from her ear before trailing down her check, shoulder, arm, and then to her ribs where they linger. She opens her eyes and finds Jax admiring the recent addition to her body. It was still a little sore, but mostly healed. She's surprised that Jax even decided to place his crow on her ribs and not somewhere more visible.

Her hands come down and weave into his growing hair. His blue eyes look up at her and he flashes a filthy smile as he crawls up her body and settles between her legs.

"Morning," she says softly as her hands come down from his hair and into his growing beard before they settle on the newest piece of work on his body. Over his heart rests the name of their son, she runs her fingertips gently over the letters.

Jax leans down and presses his lips against hers and his tongue immediately seeks hers. She brings her arms around his neck as she draws him closer until they are chest to chest. Jax uses this to his advantage as he slips inside her. She sighs at the delicious sting of him filling her.

Her eyes flutter shut as he begins thrusting into her slowly as he only keeps her on the edge of her pleasure. His pubic bone catching her on her clit makes her arch her back into him as his lips trail from her neck until they reach her breasts where he takes a nipple into his mouth and sucks on it earnestly. Jax doesn't even mind the milk that accompanies it. For some reason they both seemed to find it erotic. He groans as he tastes the milk and when he's done he brings her into a burning kiss.

Separating their lips he pulls back and out of her making her whine as he pushes her legs back and over his arms and slides her back down onto his dick.

Cheyenne almost screams from the onslaught of pleasure as he begins thrusting into her harder. Her hands slam back onto the headboard for some type of leverage. She moans loudly as she begins to shake and quiver. She can feel her orgasm building from Jax's relentless thrusts and rolls of his hips.

He moves her legs back around his waist and bringing them chest to chest, where he brings her into a bruising kiss as his hand slips between them and they both crash into an orgasm. They both groan together as it feels the pleasure waves won't stop and almost as if Jax is drowning in her as he releases his seed inside her.

Jax rolls so she is laying on top of him. He seems reluctant to withdraw from her as he holds her close. "Morning to you, darlin'." He purrs in the curve of her neck.

. . .

Cheyenne fresh out of the shower is in the kitchen holding Abel as she feeds him when Jax comes strolling in. He presses a kiss to both she and Abel before he goes and makes a cup of coffee before joining her at the table.

"Bobby and Opie should be coming home today," he tells her.

Cheyenne looks up from Abel and raises an eyebrow at that. She's happy Bobby is coming home, but Opie is another story. Since he left a month ago, there has barely been any word from him. He rarely even called to see if his kids were okay.

Cheyenne never would have imagined that Opie would turn into this person. Opie was a totally different person. He was almost someone she barely even recognized. It worried her and she knew better than to throw the term mental illness around the bikers. She knows Opie is severely depressed and she doesn't know how to help him.

"Well at least Opie is coming back." She replies.

Jax sighs as he rubs his forehead. Cheyenne has been very vocal on how she feels Opie is grieving and really taking it out on his kids. And Jax can say he can see and agrees with her points, but he can also see things from his best friend's point of view.

He knows Opie has a lot of guilt for Donna's death. The man blames himself and Jax can see how Opie can manipulate the guilt to land on him. After all, Opie is part of an outlaw gang that is accustomed to violence. The fact Donna was gunned down so brutally only shows that Opie was the initial target of the attack. For Opie it could lead back to the botched gun deal that Jax thinks was all just a front so Clay could get Opie alone.

It's easy for Opie to connect these dots and ignore the fact no matter what he isn't to blame for his wife being murdered.

And Jax knowing the truth felt it wasn't in his right to judge how his friend grieved for his wife. Jax had his own guilt with Donna's death as he was the one who had encouraged Opie to stay in this life. If he never convinced Opie to stay, Donna would still be alive. Besides, he is the one lying to his friend. He knew the truth and yet he couldn't udder a word. Telling Opie the truth would only have his friend fall down into a deeper abyss no one could pull him out of.

And Jax thinks there is also a part of him, no there _is_ a part of him that knows if god forbid something happened to Cheyenne he would follow Opie in those same footsteps.

There wasn't a lot that Jax really cherished in his life – things that he held dearly to his chest. Sure he had his club and he gave everything to that, but really outside of that he had his Mom and Opie. But since becoming a father he has reevaluated his priorities in life and what means the most to him. And Cheyenne and Abel are the most important people to him. Cheyenne is his stability. And Abel is a part of his legacy. Abel makes him want to do better – be better. It's the only reason he wants to save his club so badly. He wants something that he can give his son and be proud of it.

"I take it there is going to be a party for the homecomings," Cheyenne says as she finishes feeding Abel.

Jax nods his head.

"So it's going to be a late night?"

"You don't have to go," he tells her. It wasn't as if he expected it.

"Well I don't think I would want to take a baby to that type of party." She remarks dryly.

"I thought Neeta was going to be starting soon?"

"Not until tomorrow. Besides Abel and I have a busy day." She tells him while smiling down at their son.

Jax nods his head as Abel is going for his check up for his heart. Jax goes to open his mouth about the doctor's appointment when Ellie and Kenny come rushing down the hallway for breakfast.

. . .

"I'm thinking of signing them up to take the bus," Cheyenne tells Lip as they watch the kids pile up in his car.

Lip, who is holding his nephew, looks at his sister with an raised eyebrow. "What's wrong with the carpooling?"

"I just think it will be best for them since Opie is coming home." Cheyenne tells him.

Lip sighs. From what little Jax has told him, Cheyenne isn't all too keen on how Opie has been handling his grief as it also has him neglecting his children. Lip hasn't outright voiced his opinion on the matter, but he does support his brother in how he wants to handle retaliation. However, as a father, he would think losing a wife – the mother of your children – would only make you keep your children closer instead of pulling them away.

But now he finds himself in a weird space with his sister. it's not like it's even noticeable, but it's small enough that he can feel a change happening between them. She's not his little sister anymore. She's a mother and now Jax's old lady. He can see where she is coming from as both of those when it comes to Opie.

He knows his sister loves Opie as if he was her own brother and it also means that she is not afraid to call him out on his shit.

But then, since Opie has left, Cheyenne had not only used her time on maternity to take care of her own child, but piled on Opie's as well to give Mary a break.

"Just be gentle on him okay?" Lip says. "You know how he is and we don't know how the time away has helped him."

Cheyenne is quiet for a few seconds before she reaches out for Abel. "I knew who he was." She replies before she goes to say goodbye to the kids.

. . .

It's funny how all the things Jax has come to despise about Clay and the direction of the club, he slowly finds himself enabling it as well. He is in a weird place as he finds himself being a hypocrite. The guilt is even more pronounced as he looks at his best friend. It's evident of how much Donna's death has eaten away at him from the weight loss, blank stares, and his friend's body language.

And it's a weird place. A place he has never been in before with Opie. He doesn't know how to help him. He's lying to him. And quite frankly a shitty friend. Even with the lie or telling the truth, it will still only hurt Opie. Because neither will bring Donna back – nothing could. It's a double edged sword.

"How was the walkabout?" Jax asks his friend as they move into his garage. Bikes were a safe topic. Something to unglue his brother's lip. It wasn't anything heavy. Neutral.

"I'm doing okay." Opie claims.

Jax nods his head as everything else is giving him a different picture about his friend. But he accepts the words. There's not much he can do except make sure his friend doesn't go off the deep end and he will be willing to accept a few little white lies.

Jax moves further into the garage as he eyes what seems to be a souvenir from his trip. "What's this?" Jax asks and walking closer he recognized the frame, "Holy shit. Panhead EG '63?"

"'65" Opie corrects.

"Where'd you find it?" Jax questions.

"CHP pulled me over outside of Ukiah. Started bullshitting with me. They turned me on to this used parts guy. Electra glide was just rotting behind some garage. It's all there. Stock." Opie informs him.

Jax can't hide his smile and relief that just maybe Opie is dealing with his grief in a healthy way. He's happy his friend has a project to work on to numb his mind. "That'll keep you busy."

"That's the plan."

"I missed you bro." Jax reveals. And it's the truth. But in all honesty he misses the Opie before he got locked up for arson. He misses the man that could smile easily and was open with his emotions. He misses the man that never hesitated to call him out on his shit. Most importantly, the man who never kept secrets from him. Jax and Opie always had full disclosure. He always knew what Opie was feeling just like Opie did with him. They knew everything. They kept nothing from each other, but now they don't. Even if Opie didn't realize it.

"How's everybody doing?" Opie deflects as he crosses his arms across his chest.

"You want to hear club wise or the verbal ass-whooping Cheyenne is going to give to you." Jax asks honestly. He isn't going to sugar coat how his old lady is feeling or what she is going to do.

"Tell me about the club first." Opie insists.

Jax sighs and takes a seat on the edge of the table, "We made a new deal with the Irish. Gonna run handguns up the coast till the ATF heat dies down."

"What does that do to business?" Opie questions.

"We keep supplying Oakland. We need to figure out to who that supply goes to."

Opie tilts his head to the side as he connects the dots, "Retaliation?"

"Yeah," Jax confirms. "We're sitting down to figure it out. Waited to you got back. But Op, you need to see your kids, Chey is going to blow a gasket pretty soon."

"What happened to Mary, my pops?"

"Mary helps going back and forth from her place to here, Piney helps when needed. Your kids are more relaxed around Chey and Lip, though."

"Well just reign in Cheyenne a little." Opie protests.

Jax's eyes nearly bulge out of his eye sockets. He is not even sure he is speaking to his best friend now. He didn't know how to address the fact how Opie is telling him how to handle his old lady. "Opie please tell me you did not say this." He stresses. "Do you know what Cheyenne has been doing since you been gone? Feeding, clothing, housing your kids, she takes them to their doctor appointments making sure they have everything for school, making sure Donna's headstone was how you wanted it, and making sure fresh flowers are there every day. Jesus Christ I know your hurting but so are your kids."

"Till this retaliation gets settled can Cheyenne just watch the kids? I will see you at the clubhouse." Opie says walking away before Jax gets a chance to respond.

. . .

Cheyenne smiles down at her little boy who is playing with his set of toy keys as they leave the doctor's appointment. Abel, at four months, is getting closer to a clean bill of health and Cheyenne is forever grateful for the doctor's at St. Thomas. It is also probably the only good thing about her day so far.

She is carrying the carrier out to the parking lot and she is questioning on why she didn't just bring the stroller when she finds Unser sitting outside on the bench.

"Sheriff?" She greets wondering why he is out there by himself.

He looks up a little bit startled seeing her there, but gives her a genuine smile. "Hey, Cheyenne." She returns one of her own as she takes a seat next to him.

She used to joke that Unser was as old as Charming as he has probably seen everything that has happened in the small little town. And he has been privy to all things on both sides of law.

And Cheyenne has always liked Wayne. She knows mostly because she knows that he had always tried his best in making sure her parents never did too much damage to her and Lip for the drug abuse. Or mostly in letting the club deal with it so she and Lip never had to go to the foster system. Wayne had been a driving force in making sure that when the shoe did drop when it came to her parents Lip and her were protected and safe under the care of Gemma.

Unser leans down as he smiles and waves at Abel. "The little guy doing okay?"

"Yeah." Cheyenne replies as she rocks the carrier a bit. Abel rewards them with a gummy smile. "Gotta beef him up a little."

Unser chuckles.

"How about you?" She asks concerned knowing that he has been battling cancer for about a year.

"Right as rain is." He tells her, which she has troubling believing in. "This is just a follow-up." He confesses.

"And how'd that go?"

"The BCGs are keeping it contained in my bladder."

"Guess that's good." She tells him.

"Yeah." He says despondently.

Cheyenne responds with a closed mouth smile and she looks out into the parking thinking she is going to see his police cruiser, but she doesn't. "Waiting on Della?"

Unser shakes his head. "She ain't a fan of hospitals. Hale's picking me up."

"We'll wait with you." She tells him and she moves to let Abel out of the carrier.

Abel smiles brightly and she extends her arms to Unser, who gladly accepts him.

Unser tickles Abel's belly a bit and Cheyenne's cheeks start to hurt at the sight.

"I'm glad he's doing good. Looks like his daddy." Unser comments.

And there is no denying that Abel is Jax Teller's son. It wasn't as if Jax needed anything else to really inflate his ego.

"I think Jax is gonna make a real good daddy." Unser tells her.

"Yeah. I'll make sure of that. Or at the very least will sic Gemma on him." Cheyenne jokes as they both laugh.

. . .

Lip has a feeling in his gut. A very sick _sick_ feeling. Lip isn't one to ignore such feelings and he isn't going to ignore it, but what he is feeling isn't something he can voice without some backlash. He knows something was very off with Opie getting his retaliation. He knows it wasn't just about the fact Opie is a soulless corpse walking around, but the vibe from Jax and Tig.

He can understand Opie's need for certainty to make sure he got the closure of looking the man who murdered his wife in the eyes. Yet, with Jax rushing Opie to get it done and then Tig shooting the man in the mouth just seemed wrong after the man looked straight up confused on why they had him. If anything why were they handling a simple lackey instead of facing Alvarez for letting a hit land on a wife by mistake?

It was all too confusing and troubling to ignore. He thinks that maybe he is overthinking. But it's been a month since Donna's passing. A month for them to be sitting on answers.

And the last thing he really wants to be at is a clubhouse party. He loves Bobby and Ope, but he isn't particularly in the mood. Usually he looked forward to parties so he can turn his mind off and considering he was an accomplice in just murdering someone a party is exactly what he needs. Drink some booze and a pretty girl to distract him from his bloody hands and thoughts.

But looking at Opie is making him feel depressed.

He knows nothing not even getting vengeance for his wife's murderer would just magically wipe away the grief. If anything it would just be a reminder of the fact she is gone. But how the man is just staring at his full beer bottle and the sad eyes he feels as if he is suffocating in grief. The widow is just emitting his sorrow for everyone to swallow and consume.

And Lip sympathizes and empathizes with his brother. What he is going through is hard, but Lip doesn't know how to help.

And as a father, he can say he doesn't agree with how Opie is treating his kids. Those kids have lost their mother and Lip thinks they are slowly on their way to losing their father.

. . .

After Aunt Cheyenne shooing them off to get ready for bed, Ellie and Isla find themselves in the guest room of the Queen sized bed. Kenny is sleeping in the other guest room. Considering they are at Cheyenne's and not under the strict watch of Gemma, Mary, or even Neeta, it means they don't exactly have to be in bed at 9.

Aunt Cheyenne wouldn't care if they were in bed whispering under the covers. It was when they gossiped about their day or laugh at how crazy in love Uncle Jax was with their Aunt.

But right now they are unable to talk about that as the girls had overheard the conversation between their aunt and uncle. Ellie's Dad was home and he had yet tried to make an effort to come see her or Kenny.

"How do you feel about your dad being home?" Isla asks quietly.

Ellie doesn't answer right away because she honestly doesn't know how she feels. Her Dad's been gone for a whole month with no word. It almost feels like she lost both of her parents and not just her mother. And there is a part of her that honestly doesn't want her Dad to come back because she knows that he is going to be different. He's going to be a stranger.

"I don't know." She tells her friend simply.

. . .

Gemma rubs her grandson's belly softly as to not jostle him from his sleep. It seems as if Abel is going to be a much more relaxed baby then Jax ever was. Abel almost reminds her of Thomas. Both were quiet and only really fussed when they were hungry. They very much liked to be left alone to explore and play with their toys.

It brings back happy memories that she finds herself drowning in to combat with the waves of misery and sorrow that has plagued the club, her house, and Charming.

She's glad that she has her grandson and she plays the role of doting grandmother to a T.

Gemma looks over to Cheyenne, who is watching fondly next to her, and she knows that her son couldn't have picked a better mother for his son. She has gotten closer again to Cheyenne in this past month. It was obvious Cheyenne had changed and they were slowly working around Cheyenne's new role in Charming as a Doctor, mother, and old lady. But being with Cheyenne was a good reprieve from life with the boys. It was rare for Gemma to actually enjoy another female presence, but she has grown fond of the time she has spent with Cheyenne.

In a way she is proud to know that she had helped shape her into the woman she has become today. Yet as she eyes the young doctor with a knowing look. It's one she had right after Jax was born and the obvious growth spurts he was showing as he grew up.

"So when am I going to get another grandson?"

Cheyenne's grey eyes fly up to her brown eyes with disbelief. "Can't you enjoy the one you have?"

"Oh, I do. But considering this one was a surprise…" Gemma says trailing off.

Cheyenne shakes her head. "Right now, Abel is enough."

Gemma raises an eyebrow, but doesn't press it. "How's the tattoo?" She asks as she leaves the nursery to leave and head home. She knows Clay is probably going to spend the night at the clubhouse for Bobby's party. Thinking about the homecoming, she is reminded of that Ethan Zobelle, who made an impromptu visit and makes a note to grill Clay about it later.

"It's fine." Cheyenne replies.

"How about the next party, I take Abel and the kids for the night. Give you and Jax a break." Gemma offers.

She can tell Cheyenne sees the hidden meaning in her words and doesn't reject, but hums.

"I'm only trying to help," Gemma insists.

"I know you are, but Jax and I are good."

Gemma nods her head and knows she isn't going to get anywhere with Cheyenne tonight. She presses a kiss to her cheek. "Love you. I'll see you tomorrow."

"You too." Cheyenne replies as Gemma opens the door to leave. Yet, Gemma jumps at the figure on the other side. "Jesus Christ." She says as she slams a hand down to her chest.

Lip only smirks at her. "Sorry."

"No you're not you little shithead." She remarks as he walks through the door. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah." Lip says with a nod. "Just missed Isla."

Gemma nods her head before giving Cheyenne a wave of goodbye and heads to her car.

Cheyenne raises an eyebrow at her brother. "Did you at least say hi to Bobby before you left?"

"Of course, I did." Lip insists as he moves and heads into the living room.

"Uh huh," Cheyenne replies as she follows him in and finds a seat on the couch.

"Don't do that. You sound like Mom."

Cheyenne rolls her eyes. "I take it you didn't get laid at this party either."

Lip throws her a glare as he lounges on her couch and makes himself comfortable.

"I take it you're staying the night?"

Lip responds by grabbing the blanket and covering himself.

Cheyenne huffs and makes it a point to whack her brother with a pillow and both erupt in laughter as she runs and escapes to her bedroom.

. . .

Jax doesn't think anything of it as he pulls into his driveway and spots Lip's bike behind Chey's car. When he had arrived at the clubhouse, he hadn't spotted Lip.

Stepping into the house, he almost snorts when he hears Lip already snoring on the couch. Rolling his eyes, he places his keys in the ceramic bowl as he moves down the hallway. He checks on Isla, Kenny, Ellie, and then Abel, both who are sleeping peacefully, before he reaches the bedroom where he finds Cheyenne still up and waiting for him. He gives her a small smile as he comes over and presses a kiss to her lips. "You didn't need to stay up."

"I wanted too." She replies. "What happened to the party?"

"I saw Bobby. I didn't feel like staying." He replies. He just wasn't in the mood to celebrate after the day he had with Opie. It all felt fake and he didn't feel like putting on a front tonight. He goes to pull back, but Cheyenne stops him as she latches onto his arms and looks into his eyes.

"What's the matter?"

"I'm just tired. I'm gonna take a shower." He tells her and moves out of her grasps and heads into the bathroom.

Cheyenne watches Jax's departing form and frowns. She knows something happen from the evasive answer. But she writes it off in trusting that he would tell her when he could. She moves out of the bed and puts her book away and does one last run through of the house to make sure everything is turned off.

She makes it back to the master bathroom and looks at the pile of clothes Jax has left on the floor. While picking them up, she becomes distracted by the bloody bandana mixed in the pile. At this moment, Jax steps up from his quick shower and eyes her holding his clothes.

Jax eyes her with a little bit of shame, but is unapologetic. Yet for her she doesn't understand why he feels the need to hide the truth from her. It wasn't as if she didn't know what Jax was capable of. After all, it feels very familiar for both of them to be standing in the bathroom with the knowledge of Jax taking a life with his hands.

"I need to know the truth." She tells him. "Not just what you think I can handle. I need all of it."

"I helped Opie kill a man today. Retaliation for Donna. Shot him in the head." He tells her bluntly. He doesn't give her a chance to reply before he hands into the bedroom. "I'm going to bed."

Cheyenne throws the clothes into the basket and she follows Jax into the bedroom where she watches as Jax slip on some boxers. As he slides into bed, Cheyenne follows him but surprises him as she straddles his lap. Her hands go to his face as she cups his cheeks.

"You don't need to hide from me." She tells him.

Jax blue eyes search her grey ones. "I'm not."

"Jax –"

"I'm not. It's just…"

"Do you love me?"

"Yes."

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Let me in. Don't shut me out. If you're honest with me there is no truth that I won't be able to handle."

"Okay." Jax agrees.

Cheyenne gives him a small smile as she leans down and presses a gentle kiss to his lips. "I love you."

"I love you too."


	33. Small Tears

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Hope you guys are able to enjoy your holiday weekend despite the crazy weather! As always thanks for all the feedback!

* * *

Cheyenne is intent on ignoring the buzzing that is coming from the night stand. After all, this late at night she presumes it is for Jax anyways. So she loosens her hold on Jax slightly as he checks his phone. However, he sighs in irritation before he nudges her.

"It's for you, Chey." He mumbles.

Cheyenne groans as she rolls over to the nightstand. She frowns as Unser's number flashes.

"Hello?" She answers groggily, but her body becomes still at the shaky voice of Gemma replying. She listens intently to Gemma's instructions before she ends the call and slips out of bed.

She walks over to her dresser and pulls out a pair of jeans. She hears Jax moving behind her.

"Who was that?" He asks sleepily.

"The hospital."

"Calling at this hour," he says grumpily. She knows even in his sleep haze mind that he isn't happy about this.

"Too many call-offs." She tells him as she goes to find some shoes to slip on.

"Chey –"

"Jax, it's okay." She interrupts as she walks over to his side of the bed. "Neeta will be here in the morning if I'm not back."

Jax purses his lips and before he can make an argument out of this, she presses a kiss to his lips. "It's fine. I'll see you later. Love you."

. . .

Cheyenne shouldn't be surprised that the night she asks Jax for full disclosure barely hours later she is being asked to keep a secret from him.

Cheyenne clutches her medical bag as she looks at a bruise and battered Gemma. As a doctor of women's health, she has seen enough cases to recognize the signs of a physical and sexual assault.

Her heart breaks that someone has done this to Gemma in Charming.

Cheyenne steps forward slowly as she moves next to Gemma, who is sitting in a robe, after a fresh shower at Unser's. She really wished Gemma hadn't done that for the purpose of evidence, but the fact they weren't at the hospital or police station, she knows what has happened tonight is going to stay between the three of them.

She places her medical bag on the coffee table and opens it up. She bites her lip as Gemma flinches from the movement. It's unsettling to see Gemma this way and it's more upsetting that someone had done this in Charming. That men do this for some form of control and to show power. It disgusts her.

Cheyenne grabs some alcohol and pads and looks up at Gemma, "I'm going to clean your face wounds. Are there any visible injuries under the robe?"

Gemma only shakes her head.

Cheyenne begins cleaning the wounds and notices Gemma has retreated far away in her head. It's a familiar look she has seen in survivors. It's how sometimes they dissociate. The alcohol doesn't even make her wince. She looks back to Unser, who seems utterly heartbroken at the sight before him.

The living room is encased in silence as she slowly and gently cleans the physical wounds.

"Jax see you leave?" Gemma eventually asks.

"I told him it was the hospital." Cheyenne replies. "You need to tell me what happened so I can help you."

"Use your imagination." Gemma states bluntly.

"Maybe we should let her rest a while." Unser offers.

Cheyenne shakes her head. They needed to get her to a hospital. Gemma needed to get an exam to make sure those men didn't give her internal trauma or a disease. "We have to get her to the hospital."

"No," Gemma counters immediately.

Cheyenne looks as a doctor than a friend. "I can't treat you in this living room. There could be more damage."

Gemma takes a pained breath and for the first time in the night she is able to look someone in the eyes. "Look, I'd have to check in. The insurance and shit. Everybody'll know."

Cheyenne purses her lips as she understands this need for secrecy, but hospitals still had the HIPPA laws and no one would really know. Cheyenne sighs and looks up to Unser. "We'll say it was a car accident. We'll have to crash the car somewhere, but it should work."

Both Gemma and Unser look at her in surprise. "You need to go to the hospital, Gemma." She insists and she isn't taking no for an answer.

She can see Gemma doesn't want to go to the hospital. She doesn't see the need to advertise, but everyone will see her face. And she knows that Gemma is going to change from this. She won't be able to come up with the lies needed to brush what happened to her off.

But she is relieved that Gemma doesn't fight her anymore on it. She isn't prepared though for Gemma to grab her hand and hold it in a tight grip. "Promise me you won't tell anyone." Cheyenne is hesitant to agree, but Gemma presses, "Promise."

Cheyenne reluctantly nods her head.

"We got to tell Clay," Unser interrupts.

"Not Clay. Not Jax. No one." Gemma orders.

And in the back of Cheyenne's mind dots are starting connect. She knows most women don't tell people about their assaults is part of what they feel is shame. It was the reason she didn't tell anyone about what Calvin attempted to do to her. She was ashamed and didn't want pity.

But it was a particularly bold move for someone to attack Gemma considering who she is. This assault was clearly premeditated and in her gut she feels maybe a message for Clay, Jax, and the club. But Gemma eyes her with pleading eyes and she agrees to this promise that she isn't sure she can keep.

. . .

Jax groans as he turns in bed and he goes to drape his arm around Cheyenne, but he is met with cold sheets. His eyes pop open and he leans up frowning at the empty space. It's then he remembers that she had left early in the morning to go to St. Thomas. It seemed she still hadn't returned. He's not too sure how he feels about that.

He slips out of bed and slides on a pair of sweat as he goes to check on Abel to find the little boy sleeping. He goes into the guest rooms and find them empty as well. But he can hear voices in the kitchen and he finds Kenny, Ellie, Isla, and Lip are up and eating breakfast.

"Morning," he greets.

"Morning," they all reply.

Jax makes his way over to the coffee pot as he knows he has a window of ten minutes before Abel wakes up.

"Where's Aunt Chey?" Isla asks. "She's supposed to take us to school."

"I'll take you guys," Lip tells his daughter. "I'll just need you're Uncle's truck."

Jax rolls his eyes. "Yeah, whatever."

Jax has just poured his coffee into his mug when Abel's screams echo through the house.

…

Jax is ashamed to admit that it only took him three weeks after getting pissed on to put a wipe on top of Abel. It seemed his son liked pissing on him as the little shithead would give him a gummy smile while doing it. Worst, Cheyenne didn't seemed to want to inform him of this helpful skill, but he guesses this is what it means to stumble through fatherhood.

Jax tosses the soaked diaper in the diaper bin and snaps the onesie back in place when Lip stands in the doorway.

"Oh look at the domestic outlaw biker," Lip teases. "Cheyenne must really be whipping you in shape," he adds while mimicking whipping him.

"Shut up," Jax says as he holds up Abel and the little boy rests his head on his shoulder.

"Speaking of which, where is my sister?" Lip asks.

Jax can't help the scowl that comes across his face. "She left early for the hospital."

"She's on call with an infant at home?" Lip asks in disbelief.

"Apparently," Jax replies as he shifts Abel in his arms.

And Jax knows he will need to get a grip on the fact that Cheyenne is a working mother with a career. It wasn't as if it was hindering from her being a mother. In fact, it would be insulting to suggest that. But he knows this issue is just some shit he needs to work out for himself.

"Well, I'm gonna take the kids to school." Lip tells him.

"Alright."

Jax is left alone with Abel as he waits for Neeta to come.

It's hard to believe it's been nearly four months since Abel was born. It's hard to believe that it's been nearly a year since Cheyenne had entered his life again.

It feels weird knowing that in such a little amount of time his life has taken such a turn drastically, but in a good way. He's glad to know that even if club shit seems to be going sideways, he has a nice warm home to go to at the end of the day.

He thinks it gives him a good reason not to die. A nice motivation to change the club so the only currency is blood.

Abel coos in his arms and he holds his small little replica. It astounds him of how much of him is in Abel. He for sure thought Abel was going to inherit Cheyenne's dark hair and even her grey eyes. Instead, Abel is all him. It's slightly eerie as he looks at baby pictures of himself and Abel could pass as him. But even then, it's the little things he is able to pick out that he spots things that are all Cheyenne. Abel's a quiet baby. A little fussy at times, but for the most part a gentle one. He knows that comes from Cheyenne. But he knows for sure that his son will be smart like his mother. But he thinks Abel has the shape of Cheyenne's eyes and her lips. He's undecided whose ear's he inherited.

And it's sort of scary knowing that this child – this perfect little human – relies on him for everything. It's a burden he will carry gratefully. But as he thinks about his one son, there is the possibility that he can and could have more. Him and Cheyenne never have talked about it in-depth. He knows that Cheyenne wants to complete her residency before possibly expanding their family. Although he does find it weird that they have yet to really talk about marriage.

Jax had never thought he would think about marriage. He thought about it once as a lovesick puppy with Tara, but when she left he had completely wrote it off.

Now is different. He has Cheyenne and Abel – his family. And Cheyenne deserves _more_.

"Hello?"

Jax is brought out of his thoughts as the front door opens. He panic momentarily for someone startling him, but he realizes it's only Neeta as she exclaims about the mess in the kitchen.

Jax swaggers down into the kitchen with Abel.

"Morning, Neeta," he greets as he watches her put away some dishes in the dishwasher.

"Seems like I really got to earn my money," she replies in greeting.

"Blame that on the kids." He tells her as he walks over to his now cold mug of coffee.

"Where's Cheyenne?" She asks.

"Work."

"How's the little guy?" She asks as she smiles fondly over Abel.

Jax flashes his own smile as he passes Abel over to her.

"Is there anything of Cheyenne in him?" Neeta asks as she rocks Abel gently.

"Maybe she'll get lucky with the next one," Jax comments.

Neeta snorts. "I'm surprised you even got lucky with this one. Chey doesn't seem like the type to let these things happen."

Jax agrees with that sentiment. Thinking on it, he knows he never asks her about birth control that night. Hell, neither of them did and considering Abel is here, he deduces no condom was used that night either.

"Happy surprise though," Jax says.

"He's beautiful, Jax."

Jax smiles. "Are you flirting with me, Neeta?"

"I'm not blind!" Neeta replies with a chortle.

Jax shakes his head and soon becomes distracted by his phone ringing. He picks it up to find Clay on the other end. Panic flares in his bones.

…

Cheyenne takes a step out of the exam room and finally releases the breath she had been holding in. The examination had confirmed what Cheyenne had thought and she doesn't know how Gemma is being so stoic right now. How she isn't crumbling or even crying. But she isn't surprised because it's Gemma. She isn't one for pity. But Cheyenne can already see the path Gemma's silence is going to go. Gemma is going to try to suppress the trauma she has endured. Keep it a secret from her family and Cheyenne knows that it is a bad idea. She knows how this will eat Gemma up and slowly fracture the relationships around her. Cheyenne wants to tell somebody – Jax – but she promised she wouldn't.

The young doctor thinks she should have had the whole story before agreeing to something like this. She knows Gemma is keeping things to herself about what happened. This wasn't just a gang rape, but a message.

Cheyenne wishes she could just go back home and hold Abel. She wishes to be able to _help_ Gemma.

Cheyenne clutches the paperwork that she knows she is going to have to be discreet with as she falsifies a few things. She is going to have to risk the license she doesn't even have to keep this secret close to her chest.

"Chey?"

She jumps at the sound of her name and Jax is a rapidly approaching her with a frazzled look. Right, she supposes the guys are here now thanks to Unser.

Jax approaches and gives her a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey." She says managing to give him a small smile.

"How is she?" Jax asks worried.

"She's fine. Just a few bruises." She tells him with an even voice and straight face.

"Okay, good." Jax says visibly relieved that the injuries aren't serious. Only if he knew.

"And you?"

Cheyenne looks at him confused.

He leans in closer to her as his blue eyes connect with her grey ones. "About last night."

She nods her head. "Jax, I meant what I said. You don't have to worry bout me running. If I don't like something I'll let you know." She gives him a smile that manages to make his lips curl upwards. He pulls her into a hug and places another kiss on her lips.

"I love you." He tells her.

"I love you too." She tells him as they pull apart and she clutches Gemma's file close. "I take it all the guys are here?"

"Yeah."

"Well I guess I should tell them the news."

…

Gemma thinks for once she is glad that there is some porn drama with Luann that the boys can be distracted by. Right now, she doesn't want or need the attention. And she most certainly can't handle the presence of Clay and her son, but especially her husband.

She feels raw and torn apart. Most of all weak. Something she hasn't felt in years. Something she hasn't allowed herself to feel since John had left her with their dying son for his underage Irish pussy. She doesn't like it. In fact, she hates that these men were able to reduce her to this. She can't even look at Clay.

She's a broken mess and Clay doesn't need that in his Life.

Worse is that if Clay finds out about the truth, she knows it will change things between them. There will be the pity. The knowledge that some men had violated what was his. She wouldn't be able to stand that look. She wouldn't be able to tolerate how he would inevitably act different towards her.

And if he knew the men behind this savage attack, her husband will be in jail. Nothing would stop him from going on a bloodbath. She knows her husband. Despite being a President and having to make cool and objective decisions, there were still things that would make his head go in a tailspin – that would make him forget common sense.

So for now and possibly forever, she will keep this secret between her, Cheyenne, and Unser. She almost feels bad for making Cheyenne keep this from Jax. But like Clay, Jax could be the same hot headed shot first and ask questions later. Despite people thinking Jax was so much like John, he was more Clay than anything.

This…this assault would tear her family apart. And she always does what's best for her family.

…

"It's not broken. Just bruised." Cheyenne says with a soft smile as she looks at the young, pretty, petite blonde sitting in front of her.

After finishing up with Gemma, Cheyenne had been placed in the ER. Surprisingly it was a slow day and not that much to do. It's been a long time since she had to deal with broken bones, but luckily this girl didn't have a broken nose.

"Can I ask what happened?" She asks.

"I am not sure your old man will want me to give you the 411," Luann stresses with a pinch of attitude as she answers for the woman.

Cheyenne sighs. Her eyes go to the blue eyed girl than to the bubbly blonde. She knows this poor girl's injury is work related.

"Really, Luann, just tell me." Cheyenne demands.

"It is nothing but some porn competition trying to steal my girls. So after your old man handled it the first time, this is what happened now they are dealing with it again." Luann informs her.

"Luann, why don't you go get something from the vending machine." Cheyenne suggests with a pointed look.

The former porn star looks like she is going to object, but she presses her lips in a thin line and leaves the small exam room.

"Thanks," Lyla says. "I know she means well, but…"

"Her stress is giving you stress?" Cheyenne guesses.

"Yeah," Lyla admits sheepishly. "So you're a doctor?"

"OBGYN in the training," Cheyenne informs her as she scribbles things on Lyla's form. "Working towards getting my license."

"Oh," the young woman says.

Cheyenne looks at her confused.

"I mean…it's just…I didn't expect someone like you to be with a…biker." Lyla tells her.

Cheyenne smiles. "Don't worry, I get that a lot."

Lyla goes to ask something else, but Luann comes through the door carrying a pop for she and Lyla.

"So what is this I hear about Gemma?" Luann asks Cheyenne admiring her curves in a simple outfit of jeans and a nice white tank with a teal cardigan. Cheyenne would make a perfect porn star look wise and probably on screen too if Jax kept going back.

"Gemma was in an accident, she is alright, and I am taking her home in a little bit, actually."

"Oh that is good, where is Abel?"

"With Neeta and probably Gemma now."

Luann nods her head. "Well thanks for checking on Lyla. Us girls have to stick together and all that."

"I'll see you around Luann."

…

"You know…I don't think Chey is going to appreciate this new business venture of yours." Lip tells Jax after the vote and before they depart. Jax is going to inform Luann of her new business partner and Lip is going to meet the Niners to sell guns.

Jax eyes him and Lip can tell that Jax didn't really think about that aspect of his little business proposition. He thinks Jax has a long way to go when it comes to balancing the club and family. Because Lip knows his sister. Of course she is going to be supportive of Jax. But it's way too early in their relationship for Jax to be adding something like porn into the gun running with Jax's vivid history of easy women.

"It's just business." Jax says.

Lip laughs. "Man, I wish I could see this smack down."

Jax rolls his eyes.

"But I will admit it's a smart business move. Luann is going to shit a brick. Did you clear this with Otto?"

"It's like not we're running the joint. Luann maintains all creative control and shit. We're just muscle."

"So I take it as a no. Otto doesn't know." Lip surmises.

"Why are you busting my balls right now?" Jax asks.

"Because I can."

"Whatever. I'm going to head out. It's getting late."

"Chey giving you a curfew now."

Jax gives him the finger.

…

He doesn't know how everyone else is so cool calm and collected because he is everything but. He doesn't care that he and the club have been shot at for the millionth time. It's the fact Opie just walked into the gunfire as if it were the _Wild Wild West_.

Lip had managed to keep a lid on his cool as they scrambled back in the van and hightailed back to the clubhouse with a bleeding Bobby.

But as soon as the guys rush into the clubhouse, he pulls Opie back.

He reminds himself that Opie is grieving. He lost his wife. It wasn't as if Donna had passed away from some natural causes or a car attack. She was murdered – brutally. Reckless borderline suicide behavior is expected, but Lip isn't one to watch on the sidelines in silence. He will have no problem in calling Opie on his shit on behalf of Donna and the kids.

"Do you wanna tell me what the fuck that was back there?" Lip asks gravelly. He reminds himself to be cool and calm.

"I was just trying to protect the drop." Opie replies.

" _Protect the drop_ ," Lip repeats as he tries to process the words. "That wasn't protecting the drop. It was a fucking suicide run and I'm pretty sure that hasn't been the first lap."

Opie's eyes narrow, but he doesn't deny the accusation. And at least that hasn't changed. Opie isn't one to really ever lie. Opie is an honest bastard even if it means getting him into the shit with someone.

"Is there a point to this conversation?" Opie asks instead.

"You need to get your shit together," Lip hisses. "You got to fucking kids that need their father alive not in a plot next to their mother."

Opie shoots him a glare.

"Donna would be ashamed –"

Lip doesn't get to finish his thought as Opie decks him right in the mouth.

Opie walks away as Lip spits out the blood from his teeth splitting his gums.


	34. Children of the Corn

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** * - are quotes/paraphrase from the show "Vikings" spoken by Ragnar Lothbrok. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! As always thanks for all the feedback.

* * *

 _Men_ , Cheyenne thinks, _they are all so predictable_. She's not surprised that Jax would mention this to her as they are both in bed a sweaty mess. She's nothing but a pile of sated limbs and is ready to fall asleep and she's sure that she could probably agree to anything he tells her. But her eyes pop open at his words and she's unsure if she heard him correctly. In fact, maybe having a sated mind makes her hear and sees things clearer.

She leans up on the bed and her grey eyes look down at him. He is able to meet her eyes with a sheepish smile as she mulls over his words.

The club is getting into the porn business. Scratch that they are already in the porn business and Jax is in charge of this.

She isn't upset really. She's glad Jax is trying to help Luann and the club, but it is porn he is getting into. She has no problem with how consenting adults choose to make their money. It isn't her business frankly.

It's just Jax is going to be surrounded by naked women daily and no woman is really comfortable with that. But from what he is telling her, he seems excited by the venture and there is the positive side that porn doesn't mean a jail sentence or her planning his funeral.

"You don't trust me." Jax says quietly.

Cheyenne shakes her head. "No, it's not that."

She just doesn't like the temptation this place will essentially offer him. But she trusts Jax so she's getting worried over nothing.

"But I'm happy for you and the club." She tells him with a smile. She sees some tension leave his shoulders and he flashes a smile.

She then finds herself being pulled down flat on her back while Jax hovers over her.

"Again?" She asks with a small laugh. Sometimes, she thinks it's unnatural for Jax to have such a high libido or really that if they aren't too careful they may end up with another kid on their hands.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." He replies.

"Abel –"

"Is sleeping," Jax finishes as he catches her lips in a kiss.

…

Lip thinks he may be having a heart attack. No, he is having a heart attack. Or maybe it's a panic attack. It's something because for the life of him he is surprised he is able to breathe properly.

Not once in Isla's time at school, in Charming, or all her extra-circulator activities, he has ever received a phone call that he has just received. Isla has never gotten into any trouble and most certainly not a physical confrontation.

And he knows something very severe is _wrong_. He thinks just maybe he should have had Gemma tag along for something like this. He isn't one for talking especially to members of authority. In fact, if someone has hurt his baby girl, there isn't going to be much talking done at all.

He rushes into Charming's Middle School not caring about Parking laws or Speed Limits as he makes his way into the office. He doesn't care about protocols about signing in because he is about to raise Hell when he catches sight of Isla. She's sitting there with scraped knees and scratches on her face along with a bloody nose.

"What the fuck happened!" He roars as he kneels down and examines her stretched clothes.

"Dad –"

"Mr. Henderson, there is no reason for that foul language." The secretary says from the desk.

Lip throws daggers at the secretary before his eyes scan the office where he finds a little scrawny boy with dark hair on the opposite side of the room nursing a black eye. He looks to be in the same amount of damage as his daughter. Lip nearly loses his shit that a boy would do this to his little girl.

"Dad?"

He looks down at Isla, her green eyes swimming in unshed tears. "You okay?" He asks her gently.

"Yeah," she says and he can tell she wants to cry, but she doesn't.

He brings his daughter into a tight hug and then demands the fucking nurse.

…

Lip doesn't care about the other kid, whose name is apparently Cliff. After all, he can't wait to take a chunk out of the boys' parents that they would even condone teaching their kid to put hands on a girl. Worse, even after taking pictures and having the nurse tend to his daughter the bastard's parents still weren't at the school.

However, after almost an hour, Cliff's dad eventually strolls through into the Principal's office. Lip eyes the man with a hairy eyeball and scoffs as he can see the Nazi tattoos peeking out of the man's collar.

"What seems to be the problem?" The man asks in a gruff voice.

"Problem?" Lip says not letting the Principal speak. "The problem here is your boy scout got in a fight with my daughter."

The man eyes him before his eyes go to Isla and Lip stands in front of his daughter protecting her from the man's gaze.

"Again what is the problem?" He repeats.

Lip clenches his fist.

"Mr. Henderson and Mr. Weston –"

That makes Lip's head pop up as AJ Weston was apparently an associate of Ethan Zobelle, the owner of the new cigar shop breaking ground, and the man who came to the clubhouse to warn them about selling to color.

Lip barely hears what the principal has to say after that instead his eyes burn into AJ's form.

"Since when do we allow Neo-Nazi's at schools?" Lip asks bluntly taking the Principal back.

AJ sneers at him.

"Men, please, we need to discuss the level of violence at hand."

"My daughter was just assaulted. I think Mr. Weston here should be the only one attending this meeting."

"So my son happened to get a black eye by himself?"

"Self-defense." Lip points out. "I mean considering the lifestyle you live, I can see where Cliff might get his disturbing behavior."

AJ clenches his fists and Lip smirks.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Weston, but Cliff, according to multiple witnesses struck Isla first." The Principal says trying to get a word in edge wise.

"That's bullshit!" The little boy says.

"Cliffy!" AJ warns.

The Principal frowns. "Cliff will be suspended for two weeks and if this behavior continues I will have no choice but to intervene."

"Don't bother; I'm removing him from this school." AJ says as he storms out.

…

Isla hasn't said anything since they left the school. Lip is worried, plain and simple.

He pulls into the lot of Teller Morrow and he motions for Isla to follow him into the office. He spots Gemma in the office, but Clay's bike is nowhere on the lot. Gemma is busying filing paperwork and she glances at him briefly before her head whips back as she takes in Isla.

"What the hell happened!" She asks and Lip thinks this is the most reaction he has since out of Gemma since her car accident.

"Gem –" Lip begins.

"Don't _Gem_ me!" She retorts. "What the hell happened to her?" Gemma asks as she rushes up to Isla and checks over her injuries.

"Where's Clay?"

Gemma whips her head up and eyes him suspiciously before she purses her lips. "He's meeting with Unser."

Lip grimaces as he nods his head.

"Cheyenne is home with Jax and Abel." Gemma tells him.

…

Cheyenne and Jax with Abel arrive on the lot the same time as Clay and Tig.

Cheyenne looks at her brother, who is pacing in front of the office. She can tell that he is barely containing his rage. She's concerned as he didn't really explain what had happened to Isla and only said that she needed to bring Jax. She shifts Abel higher on her hip as she heads into the office while Jax approaches Lip.

Cheyenne isn't sure what to expect, but she is taken back by the sight of her niece with scrapes and a bruised nose that leads to her eyes.

Gemma immediately takes Abel out of her arms as she frowns at Isla. It seems for the most part Isla's injuries have been tended.

Cheyenne gives her niece a smile that isn't returned. Cheyenne checks her nose and finds that it's just bruise and checks over some of the scrapes. She does find some gravel in the wounds.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" Cheyenne asks softly as she digs some of the debris out of Isla's knee.

Isla shakes her head.

Cheyenne doesn't press her. After all, she thinks she has a pretty good idea of what happened. She is just concerned with what would be a catalyst to Isla getting into a fight at school. Worse, is that there really isn't much for her to do to help her niece. Cheyenne stands up as she eyes Gemma, who is watching with open concern.

"I'm going to see what is in the kitchen to eat and drink."

Gemma nods her head before Cheyenne leaves the office.

Gemma presses a kiss to Abel's head as she bites down her own emotions as she looks at Isla. Even though the origins of her injuries were vastly different from how Gemma got her physical and emotional ones, she can't seem to separate the two. She can't help but to take in Isla's pain as her own.

She holds Abel tighter as she takes a sit next to the girl she considers to be her first grandchild. She wraps her arms around her and presses her close.

"It'll be okay, baby. It'll be okay." Gemma soothes.

Gemma feels her shirt get a little wet.

…

"Lip, you need –"

"Don't tell me to fucking calm down," Lip snaps at his Vice President. It wasn't Jax's child that got into a fight with a Neo-Nazi's son. It wasn't his child that refuses to even say what happened to provoke such a beating. Jax wasn't the parent in this situation. Jax was just barely a parent at all.

His child was in danger. Lip isn't stupid to not think this all leads back to whatever warning Ethan Zobelle wanted to send. It's taking all his common sense to not go to the cigar shop with his bare fists. He doubts that Ethan would even put up much of a fight anyways.

"Think man all he wants is a reaction," Jax adds.

"Yeah, son, you need to think smart." Clay agrees.

Lip glares openly at them. Their words aren't helping him at all.

It is also taking everything in his power not to lose his shit with the two of them. Ever since Donna's death, he can tell that the two of them have been butting heads over the littlest and stupidest shit. Then with them going through their pissing contest, Opie, his best friend, is suicidal. And right now, he can feel the shit just piling up. He knows that this won't even be the climax of it all.

Lip clenches his jaw and is about to tell Clay and Jax to go to hell when the clubhouse doors open and reveals his sister.

He doesn't bother with goodbyes or anything as he rushes out the door to grab his daughter and leave.

…

Cheyenne isn't surprised by her brother's attitude or actions. Frankly, she is surprised that he hasn't done anything rash. But when Jax goes to follow Lip, she holds him back.

She knows it's best to give Lip space and time to navigate this. She knows that this wasn't just any fight that Isla got involved in. It was something worse – something related to the club.

Cheyenne tugs on Jax's arm and motions for him to follow her. She ends up taking them to his former dorm room.

She sits on the edge of the bed and she looks warily at Jax. Mostly because he had told her about the porn business, but it was clear there was something out that had Lip believing this incident was a byproduct of the club.

And this, with her asking for the truth, is all new to the both of them. She knows Jax isn't used to having someone to just tell things too. And she needs to come to terms that some days it will be harder than the rest. Things will be busy and chaotic. She has to trust Jax in letting her know things aren't looking good.

She doesn't want to sound accusatory, but she does. "Is there something I should know?"

Jax rubs his hands down his face and he takes a seat next to her. His jeweled covered hand takes one of her plain ones. His thumb rubs the top of her hand.

He's quiet for about a minute before he talks. "There might be a new player in town."

She's dubious of the _might_. She is pretty sure that there is someone new in Charming that is about to be the club's new adversary. "Going after kids?" She probes.

At this Jax looks at her. His blue eyes shine with sincerity – worry. "I don't want you to worry. It could be a coincidence."

Cheyenne shakes her head. She doesn't really believe his words. She knows that he doesn't really believe that whatever happened with Isla is a coincidence.

"When did they arrive?"

"At Bobby's party."

Cheyenne's brows furrow at that. "Bobby's party was nearly almost two weeks ago." She points out with an edge in her tone.

"I know. I was going to tell you."

Cheyenne scoffs. "When was that going to be, huh? When another warehouse blows up?"

"I think my mom being in a car accident was more pressing," Jax snaps slightly.

Cheyenne presses her lips in a thin line as Gemma's _car accident_ was the night of Bobby's party. And any anger leaves her. She knows she has no right to be mad at Jax right now considering that right now she isn't exactly being an honest person herself.

"Sorry." Cheyenne says.

"I know, babe," he tells her softly. "Believe me, if there is something you need to know, I'll tell you."

Cheyenne decides to believe him.

…

Deciding to give the new parents a break, Gemma practically demands that she gets Abel for the night. With everything going on, she wants to keep her grandson – the innocent – close to her. Abel and Isla are probably the only two pure things she has in her life. The two things that aren't fully tainted by the lies and violence of the world she loves and lives in.

She holds Abel close to her heart that almost beats irregularly just thinking about these men possibly targeting the innocent babies she loves – her grandchildren. She slightly wonders if this is all part of some elaborate scheme of theirs that isn't for the club, but for her.

These are all just little ploys to crack her. She didn't follow through with their demand of telling Clay and Jax to stop selling guns to color. She hasn't said anything of that night. She had changed the circumstance to a car accident. She knows that they didn't anticipate that. She knows they underestimated how strong she is.

It's probably the only thing that keeps her strong these days. In fact it is what makes her smile as she thinks about the attack in the dark of the night. Those sick bastards did underestimate her. She could laugh and probably spit in their face at the mere thought they could shatter her to pieces. Sure, they may have ripped or dulled her sharp edges. She'll admit to that, but they didn't break her.

She wouldn't have been the strong mother and matriarch of an outlaw club if she was made of glass. However, what is made of glass is her concern for her grandbabies. Abel and Isla could break her, but at the same time it could make her a wild caged animal that can be ruthless and brutal. She wouldn't care about any consequence when it comes to them.

She looks down at Abel. The spitting image of Jax and Thomas with blue eyes and blonde hair and lately her thoughts turn to John, the father of her sons and frankly the love of her life. She loves Clay, but she knows the truth of that love is twisted in lies and blood. But John was something pure. The type of love you only get once in life. It was messy especially towards the end, but it was love. Just love. And now she thinks about him especially in the final months of his life when both of them were merely strangers.

She couldn't hide her hate about his sorrows and regrets especially when he had left her alone with their dying son to bury his grief – his failings as a father – in some young Irish pussy. She knows out of everything that was what had really pushed her and John apart. It's what had pushed her into Clay's arms.

But before that, she and John were happy. Gemma had thought she and John were going to grow old together. He would – should – have been here to see the birth of his first grandson. Yet, as the club got deeper into the outlaw world, she had known John couldn't stomach what it meant to really live on the fringes of society. He couldn't handle the sacrifices that came with the club. She knew it got worse once Jax starting emulating him.

Yet, John was a smart man. He could see things – the big picture – others couldn't. He wasn't afraid to be the one opposing voice to what everyone agreed with. And she thinks maybe John did see this down the road. Sure most clubs had their unspoken – unwritten – rules, but they were an outlaw club. At the end of the day, everything came down to money, territory, and ego. And nothing would get in the way of an ambitious man. After all, those who seek power have to lower themselves to pick it up*. She knows this from experience. She and Clay both do. And she thinks just maybe John wanted to prevent this. Even though their love had turned black, he still wanted to make sure his family wouldn't be in danger – wouldn't be hurt.

But she knows there is no use in looking back especially since she isn't going that way*.


	35. Fix

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Pardon any grammar and spelling mistakes. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

* * *

"You are a slobbering mess, you know that?" Cheyenne says to a smiling and giggling Abel, who had her hands in a tight grasp, as he is trying to stand up on his own.

Fawn watches the scene from the couch in living room, "Jax said he was teething."

Cheyenne looks over at Fawn sitting on the couch. "When did you two talk?"

"I was at TM the other day."

"For your car or someone else?" Cheyenne questions. She knows that Lip and her seemed to have cooled down or broke up. She isn't sure as no one has really clarified, but Jax had mentioned in passing that Tig and she had seemed to be getting close. Cheyenne, of course, was happy her friend seemed to be making amends with her father. Yet, Jax seemed put off by it that she didn't question it.

Fawn rolls her eyes. "My car."

Cheyenne raises an eyebrow, but looks back at her son and smiles. "But he is teething, and he is giving us the Jackson Nathaniel Teller attitude. Although you missed it when Abel dropped a slob ball on his daddy. Jax's face was priceless. The funniest thing was when Jax decided to change Abel in his kutte and Abel thought it would be funny to trick his daddy thinking he was done peeing, but man did his dad get a surprise."

"Shit you should have recorded that," Fawn manages to say after a fit of laughter.

"Well it wasn't one of his finest moments." Cheyenne tells her smiling at Abel, who is now planting sloppy wet kisses on her face. Cheyenne stands up swooping Abel, who lets out a big laugh and walks over to her best friend, "Here he can slobber all over you now."

Fawn gladly accepts Abel. "You and Jax did make a beautiful baby,"

"You know you're basically calling Jax beautiful because Abel looks nothing like me." Cheyenne points out as she looks at her son. He keeps looking more and more like Jax. The hope for him to even sprout black hair had completely diminished.

"Abel has probably inherited your smarts." Fawn says soothingly as if she can feel her distress.

"Oh god, I hope so," Cheyenne mutters.

"So should I expect a niece or nephew soon?" Fawn asks so casually that Cheyenne thinks she misspoke.

"Excuse me? I am happily content with my only son for now." Cheyenne tells her friend. Right now, her focus was solely on Abel and obtaining her licensure. More babies were not on her brain or her game plan. She knows Jax wants more kids and has expressed it in little ways, but Abel was one happy surprise that she can only see herself with at the moment.

Fawn looks at her knowingly. "Chey, I know there are a litter of hickeys under that shirt. You and Jax fuck like bunnies and you have this look in your eye that I know as soon as Abel begins talking and walking you're going to want another baby."

"You know me so well." Cheyenne mocks.

"So is Gemma going to be alright that accident?" Fawn asks.

Cheyenne purses her lips and focuses on the sight of her socks. It is getting harder and harder keeping this secret with how Gemma is reacting and she didn't like lying to Jax.

"I think she may have a slight case of PTSD." Cheyenne says.

"Really you can get that from a car accident?" Fawn questions.

"Well yes, the domino effects from it and the what could've happened are just as lethal as what happened." Cheyenne explains.

Fawn seems to accept her answer as she rocks Abel, who coos in delight. "So how do you feel about the boys doing porn?"

Cheyenne rolls her eyes. She supported Jax. She truly did. But she didn't realize that Jax was basically being a porn legit producer. She had thought that he would just be a silent partner occasionally providing funds and muscle. However, nearly every day Luann had to call Jax down to the studio for something.

Fawn chuckles. "I take it you're not a fan."

"It's a legitimate business. And Jax wants this."

"How do you feel about that?"

"Feel about what?"

"Jax being around porn stars," Fawn states in the most obvious duh tone. "Listen can we be perfectly honest here, we all know, Jax hasn't met a pussy he didn't like. Now I'm not trying to judge because hey if a girl wants to do porn that is her business, but some of those girls are downright dirty bitches, leeches almost. I don't understand the appeal of running through a high traffic zone, but I – we – both know Jax and the boys turn a blind eye to that shit anyways. A blowjob isn't considered cheating to them either ya know."

Cheyenne rubs her forehead as she doesn't know why Fawn would seek to even point this out. It's not like she hasn't thought about the guys' blinders to infidelity. But Cheyenne knows that she doesn't have to worry about Jax.

"I trust him." Cheyenne tells her friend.

"All right, if you say so."

…

Jax sighs as he walks into his house. He thought partnering with Luann was simply just going to be a silent thing. If she needed some money he would provide and some muscle. He didn't think Luann would call him over every little thing since she moved into the rebuilt warehouse. He didn't think his signature was needed on every little thing either, but apparently it was. Besides he was becoming sick of Luann's bitchy attitude. At the end of the day, she still maintained all creative control over Cara Cara. He didn't care what films she wanted to produce just as long as she was making money.

But even if Luann was calling him just to fucking tell him that some lights needed replace, he wasn't about to bitch to Clay. For some reason, he is opposed to this legitimate source of income. Jax had his various theories as to why, but still it didn't make fucking sense to Clay's vehement disgust to the added income.

If Jax was feeling extra petty, he would cut the President out of the earning some of the profits. Still Jax decides to leave club problems at the door as he places his keys on the counter in the kitchen.

He notes that it is very quiet in the house. He checks the living room and finds it spotless. He walks down to Abel's room and he smiles at the sight of his son sleeping. Cheyenne has him tightly swaddled in his blanket. He still doesn't know how she does that.

Sometimes he finds it hard to believe that he is a father. That he has this whole little human being depending on him.

Giving his son one last look, he heads into the bedroom where he finds Cheyenne passed out. He smirks at her attire of a thin cami and a pair of underwear. His eyes flash hungrily at the sight of her crow exposed from the cami being risen up. Jax immediately begins removing some of his many layers.

…

Cheyenne is nudged awake by Jax's insistent mouth. He begins tracing kisses down her jaw and throat. Cheyenne giggles at the feel of his growing beard scratching her skin. She reaches up and tangles her fingers through his hair. She tries not to think that Jax is this excited after dealing with porn stars.

"Mmm," Jax groans as he settled more on top of her. He practically swallows her whole tongue in his kiss.

"You're the most beautiful fucking thing, I've ever seen," he tells her as he affectionately bumps her nose with his.

She smiles sleepily. "I'm a _thing_ now?" She teases as she pushes back some of his growing hair behind his ears. "But I guess I could say the same thing about you." She says with a giggle.

Jax grins as he decorates her neck in possessive kisses. Before she knows it, he is tugging down the straps of her cami and exposing her breasts. Her hands drifts around him, over his shoulders, as one trails down and comes between them. She trails to the edge of his boxers and moans as he covers her chest with more hickies. She pushes the material of his boxers down and parts her thighs allowing him to follow suite with her own underwear. She raises her knees allowing Jax to breach her folds and she clings to his shoulders as her legs lock around his hips.

He eases into her slowly – teasingly – as he watches her face. She can't help the filthy moans that escape her throat as she clutches his shoulders.

"You with me, darlin'?" Jax asks. His lips brush over intimately over hers without actually kissing her. Cheyenne hums before she kisses him hard. It's then he begins to fuck her. Cheyenne practically becomes boneless as he unmakes her.

But it's not like Cheyenne is the only weak one between them. Jax releases a stuttering breath at the feel of her tight heat. Like every single time, she feels too good, perfect for him.

He's hunches over her as he pounds, pushes, and presses into her earnestly. She takes it all greedily as he drives her into her first orgasm.

"Mine," he reminders her as he kisses her possessively.

She hisses and whines as her sharp nails dig into his back. She chants a mantra of _yes, yes, yes_. And Jax takes that in greedily like the possessive animal he is.

And the raw, primal pride drags him straight into his orgasm as he spills inside her. He roars and growls his pleasure into the curve of her neck. It sets her off again, as her breath catches in her throat and burns her chest. Her back arches off the bed as her thighs are pinned open by his hands.

…

Cheyenne is currently in the local store buying a new burner cell at the insistence of Jax. For what, she doesn't know.

One thing she has discovered is she really hated burner cells. They are bulky and just ugly to her, but Jax did slap two hundred bills in her hand so she will get the most expensive and fancy one.

As she shops, her radar of someone watching her had skyrocketed to paranoia level. She can feel a hole being burned in her skull. She turns to the source and is greeted by the sight of Lyla, nose no longer swollen.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare, I just didn't know how to approach you." Lyla says.

Cheyenne takes a relieved breath that it's just Lyla that was staring at her. "It's fine. Next time just approach me instead of staring I promise I don't bite."

Lyla releases out a nervous laugh, "Sorry, its just you're a doctor and such."

"And your point?" Cheyenne asks gently.

Lyla gives her a small smile as she shakes her head.

"I heard you two had a baby, congratulations?"

"We have a son, his name is Abel," Cheyenne says taking out her phone – not a burner- and shows Lyla a picture of her baby boy.

"Oh my god, he is beautiful and looks just like Jax," Lyla say gushing over the picture. After all, since Luann had informed them of their new partners, Lyla has become familiar with Jax Teller. He seems to be there practically every day handling Luann's many outburst that Lyla thinks are due to stress. Yet, she knows with Jax's increasing presence some of her friends have begun to dig into what they know about the infamous Prince Charming. Lyla thinks she might be the only one not plotting to sleep with the man.

Besides, Jax seems really nice. The few times she has actually watched him, or mostly after he calms Luann down the conversations shift. She finds Jax always showing a new picture of his son to Luann. He also talks about Cheyenne or Luann will make a lewd comment about Cheyenne being in the business to ruffle his feathers. Sometimes, it's hard picturing the man she had heard slept his way through Northern California being such a family man and obviously in love.

"It must be nice having him still there supporting you." Lyla lets slip.

"You got a kid?"

"A boy, Piper, he is six."

Cheyenne doesn't get to respond because her phone starts going off Jax's name popping up, "I have to take this, maybe we can meet sometime later."

Cheyenne thinks the girls face is going to split by the wide grin she gives her, "Yes that would be nice actually. It was nice talking to you Cheyenne."

Cheyenne gives her a parting smile before answers her phone, "Yes, Jackson?"

"What is taking you so long?"

"I didn't know I was on a schedule, what are you my keeper?"

"Yes, actually, but I was calling because I want some chocolate milk." Jax requested.

 _What the hell?_ "Chocolate milk? You called me because you want some chocolate milk?" Cheyenne says strolling to the dairy isle anyways.

"Yes darlin', you have shit in here to drink and why don't you pick up some honey buns too," Jax tells her and she can hear him shuffling around in the kitchen.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You have the munchies or something?" Cheyenne questions.

"No, I'm hungry. Plus you should have some extra money from the expensive ass burner I know you are going to buy."

"You are such an asshole," she tells him. "What is Abel doing?"

Jax laughs before he answers, "Playing in that baby mover thing."

"His walker?" Cheyenne clarifies amusement clear in her voice.

"Yeah, isn't he too young to even walk?"

"He is about to be six months Jax. It also helps him to stand up and plus he can never start too early to walk, but you need anything else Prince Charming?"

She hears Jax snort before answering, "No, I don't Your Majesty, just hurry up your boys miss you."

Cheyenne quickly buys Jax's requested items. She is pushing the cart out of the store when out of nowhere another cart collides with hers.

"Oh, ma'am, I'm sorry. Forgive me."

Cheyenne is slightly irritated but hides it. "It's fine. Thank goodness I didn't have any eggs." She says in a lame attempt at the joke.

The man laughs and Cheyenne finds it odd that he is wearing a suit to go grocery shopping. Also with the fact he is bringing the cart all the way back into the store when he could have left it outside. "My name's Ethan Zobelle. I own Impeccable Smokes."

Cheyenne looks at the man's extended hand and hesitantly shakes it.

"Cheyenne."

She watches Zobelle's eyes widened. "Cheyenne Teller?"

"No, Henderson. I'm not married."

"My apologies. I'm sorry to hear about Gemma Morrow though."

Cheyenne gets that weird prickly feeling in her gut that is telling her to run. But before she can excuse herself another man approaches with closed cropped hair and a tattoo at the base of his throat. "I'm sorry, but business calls." Ethan say and Cheyenne manages a small smile as she tries to figure out what just happened.

…

Like for the past month, Clay had woken up alone, confused, and angry. He growls in frustration as he can handle him and Jax being at odds. He knows this shit is deeper than father and son shit even if down to the bare bones of it all they are simply father and son. He can even handle Lip slowly pulling away from him. He can shoulder it like everything else he does. He can compartmentalize. He can even stomach and bury his guilt for Donna. He can manage to look Opie in the eye despite the truth and pull him closer. But what he cannot absolutely handle is his wife pulling away from him especially with all this other shit happening around him. When he could feel the club was heading into muddy waters. Hell, they were about to be heading into fucking trenches of their own shit they had dug and tried to bury.

And for the life of him he doesn't know why Gemma is pulling away. If anything, it all leads back to the car accident, but he can't fathom as to why a car accident would make her distant. Of all the shit and sins he has committed, she had stayed glued to his side. In fact, a car accident seems so trivial to make her unravel or whatever is causing her to seek solitude.

In all their years of marriage, he has never seen his wife like this even when she had lost her youngest, Thomas, she didn't seek isolation.

So he knows something is wrong. Quite frankly it bugs the shit out of him that his wife won't sit down and tell him. And he knows his wife is stubborn, but goddamn sometimes he wishes that his wife would let him take care of her for once.

He growls in frustration at his rebuffed advances of concern from his wife. He doesn't even feel a little bit bad in taking out on Clancy, the bird.

…

Cheyenne can't help the squeals and giggles that escaped her throat as she clutches into Jax as they made their way to the streams – just the two of them. It was an actual date.

When they arrived at their destination, Cheyenne jumps off his bike and removes her helmet fixing her hair.

"So I take it you missed being on my bike?" He asks.

Cheyenne smiles and nods her head. She walks in between his thighs and wraps her arms around his neck. "And I like having you between my thighs."

Jax growls deep in his throat causing her to laugh before it is swallowed by him giving her a kiss. Before Jax can deepen the kiss, Cheyenne pulls back and gives him a smile. "Come on, we can do that later."

The two quickly settled by a redwood tree for some shade. Cheyenne pulled out their blanket and setup their picnic. Jax is laying besides her as she eats some grapes when he leans up and an arm wraps around her stomach.

"Doesn't this bring back memories?" He asks her.

Cheyenne raises an eyebrow at him. "Of what?"

"Wahewa." He says.

"A little bit."

"If you ever think about what if you would've had Abel then?"

Cheyenne would have fallen over if Jax wasn't holding her at that question. Although Jax did point out their obvious reckless behavior that day that only foreshadowed the future. Besides, she had made sure she had bought Plan B as soon as they were back in town.

She shakes her head. "We would've been a mess." She tells him truthfully.

"Really?"

Cheyenne eyes him and she is shocked to find that he seems hurt by that statement.

"Jax, I would've been 19 and you would have been 23. Would you have really wanted to be saddled down with a kid? Could you see that for yourself at 23? You would've gotten bored or something."

She knows that for a fact. He would have gotten attention from the croweaters, which would piss her off. On top of the infidelity, she probably would have resented him from getting pregnant and putting all her hopes and dreams on hold. It would have created resentment and their relationship.

"The women…they're just nameless faces. They never mean anything."

Cheyenne raises an eyebrow at that. "That's comforting to know."

His arm tightens around her. "You know if we did, we would probably have a litter of kids by now."

"So this is your way of saying you want more kids?"

"Don't you?" He counters.

Cheyenne twists her body so that she easily settles in Jax's lap. Straddling him, she looks down at the blonde biker and really tries to figure out how in the hell they got to this point. How she and Jax were able to get this wrapped up with each other. They have a child together and he wants more.

"More kids…it is a serious commitment." She says. She and Jax were already bonded for life through Abel, but more kids to her made everything more serious between them.

Jax sits up bringing them chest to chest. His nose bumps against hers affectionately. Her arms go around his neck.

"You know this isn't just playing house." Jax tells her.

Cheyenne nods her head as her fingers twirl the ends of his hair. "I love you."

Jax flashes a smile that shows all his teeth. "I love you too."

Jax catches her lips in a searing kiss as his hands grip her hips and he flips them over. She's laying on her back as her settles in between her thighs.

Jax's kiss leaves her breathless as he moves to her jaw and down her throat.

"No marks." She scolds.

She's rewarded with a teasing bite to her shoulder before she feels his fingers itching up her shirt. His fingers trail the lace of her bralette. He begins to pull the thin lace down when his phone begins going off.

She can't help the annoyed sigh that escapes her throat. She reaches into the pocket of his pants already knowing who it is.

"Porn hotline."

Jax gives her an apologetic look as he answers it. Jax moves off her as she goes and fixes her shirt. She goes back to grab a grape, but Jax's irritated tone and posture makes her curious as to what the hell happened now.

Jax slams his phone closed with a frown on his face.

"Everything okay?"

His irritated face answers her question. "I'm sorry. I'll take you home."

Cheyenne shakes her head as she places a light kiss to his lips. "Take me and then maybe we can finish what we started."

…

Despite Jax promising the melt down at Cara Cara was only going to be five minutes, it ended up being more than five minutes. Not only that, but Cheyenne watched as some random porn star, who was pushing up on Jax, remind her of her place, Gemma and Clay had a very intimate public dispute in the parking lot.

Jax pulls in the driveway to drop her off at home. Considering that there was not some club business that took precedent, she finds that it's best to relieve Neeta and spend time with their son.

"Babe, I'm sorry." Jax says as he turns off his bike for the moment to talk.

"It's okay." She tells him. She knows being with him and being his old lady means making some sacrifices. She can suck it up and put her big girl panties on.

Jax grabs her arm and pulls her into him.

She was going to allow him to kiss her, but she gets a flash of that skinny blonde porn star and his arm draped across her shoulder. She puts a finger to his lips. He looks at her confused. "Why were you talking to that girl?"

A resigned look comes over his face, "Babe –"

"No, Jax," she says interrupting him. She isn't about to be coddled especially when he knows her feelings on him and other women. "I really don't appreciate that she thinks she has a claim on you."

"Luann said she had a thing for me. She thought Georgie was following her and Luann was worried about her walls drying or some shit. She needed some reassurance."

Cheyenne wrinkles her nose. "Isn't that what lube is for?"

"Chey –"

"I told you how I felt about this Jax." And barely two hours ago, he had told her basically other women didn't mean shit and this wasn't all for shits and giggles.

"Hey, I know. But seriously babe you don't have to worry." Jax says pressing a kiss to her lips trying to wipe the pissed look off her face, but he had no avail.

Cheyenne allows him to kiss her, but she pulls back with pure fire in her eyes. "If I see her talking to you Jax, you _both_ aren't going to like it."

She doesn't allow him to respond as she heads for the front door.

…

Cheyenne has just put Abel down for bed when Gemma comes through the door. "Hey, Gem."

"Hey, baby, he already asleep?" She asks as she places her purse down on the side table.

"Yeah," Cheyenne says as she takes a seat on her couch with Gemma following. She can tell after the episode with Clay, Gemma still isn't coping well with what happened. Not like there is going to be a miraculous recovery, but the obvious repressing Gemma is trying to do is backfiring. Cheyenne admires Gemma's strength, but she wishes Gemma knew that being strong didn't mean shouldering everything alone.

"You okay, Gem?"

Gemma lights a cigarette. "I haven't had sex since it happened."

"Make sense. You're still healing." Cheyenne explains.

"Pussy's not the problem. It's my head." Gemma reveals.

"You need time." Cheyenne says gently.

"I need something." Gemma mutters.

"Where's Clay with all this?" Cheyenne probes.

"Did you miss the car show earlier?" Gemma asks sardonically. "He hates me."

"That's not true." Cheyenne counters. She knows Clay thinks Gemma hung the moon. It was obvious Gemma was very much in love with his wife. He was just confused as to why he doesn't know what's going on with her.

"You know he gave Miss Double Penetration a ride today." Gemma says purposefully ratting out her son and to change the topic of conversation. She's over thinking about Zobelle and his men. She's tired of them even having space to occupy. But she can admit just saying these few words to Cheyenne have made her feel slightly better. It's nice to talk to someone who knows what is going on and not once has Cheyenne showed her pity.

But even Gemma has her limits with emotional powwows. She watches with a smirk as Cheyenne freezes at that bit of news.

"No he didn't."

Gemma smiles openly at the flash of anger that came across Cheyenne's grey eyes. "You should head over to the warehouse. There is a party. All those girls will be there. You gotta educate. Set the bitch straight. I'll watch Abel."

…

Jax grabs a beer for himself and Opie and takes a seat in one of the studio chairs that are stationed throughout the studio. With everything that has been going on, he rarely had a chance to actually sit down and talk to his best friend. Lip had angrily informed him of the Dirty Harry scene that happened during the Niners exchange. Lip with his bloody lip had even made mention of their best friend needed to be on a suicide watch. Jax was certainly worried about where his brother's head was at especially since he got to witness Opie's death wish at the meth house. After all, being here at a porn studio is something Opie never would have gone to if Donna was still alive.

"Heard you went a little cowboy at that Mayan thing a few weeks ago," Jax starts, testing the waters a bit to gauge his friend's reaction, "The thing today with the explosives – "

"I don't have a death wish, man." Opie interrupts.

"You got something going on." Jax counters.

Opie takes a sip of his beer, "I've got the club. Just throwing myself into it."

"You got kids, Ope."

"You got a family – a kid too. You're in the same club I am and taking the same risks."

Jax scrubs a hand down his face. "I know I can't understand what you are going through Opie, but just don't throw yourself too far. By the way, the longer you keep avoiding Cheyenne the harsher her bite is going to be." He adds. He knows that Opie had been ducking her calls.

Opie doesn't say anything. Jax doesn't really expect him too.

Jax goes back to watching the debauchery in front of him and his thoughts immediately drift to Cheyenne. It's weird to think before her he had been content with this lot in his life. He had enjoyed the life of a bachelor and probably would've been quick to brag about banging a porn star. Now none of this shit really appeals to him anymore. He is thinking about probably heading out sooner than later. He knows he knows he needs to make up his and Cheyenne's botched date when Opie nudges him.

Jax almost spills his beer all over himself as he catches Cheyenne face to face with Ima. "Shit."

He ignores Opie's laughter as he watches Cheyenne walk away from Ima. He is surprised she didn't slap the girl as he follows her to the bathroom.

He can tell Cheyenne is irritated, but he takes his time to admire the change in outfit from earlier in the day. It's _short_ denim shorts paired with a white lace up cropped long sleeve shirt. It's definitely a more proactive outfit.

He catches her eye in the mirror as he enters the bathroom fully and shuts the door. "Technically, I wasn't talking to her."

Cheyenne rolls her eyes as she turns to face him. She folds her arms across her chest. "But you gave that bitch a ride."

Jax knows his mom ratted him out for sure. He steps towards her cautiously. "Don't let them get to."

Cheyenne scowls. "You're an asshole."

"Chey, I told you it's just business. They –"

Jax isn't prepared for Cheyenne to slap him before she pushes him against the wall. He goes from confused, to maybe slightly scared, before turned on as she rips his shirt open.

A lecherous grin takes over his lips as he quickly takes control of the situation. He brings her back to the counter that he places her on. He wrangles her out of her shorts and panties and he does even bother with her shirt as his jeans drop to his ankle.

He presses open mouthed kisses along her neck as he pumps into her unbridled.

And he was too far gone to notice when the volume in the room increases slightly. He doesn't realize there is an interloper in the room. And definitely doesn't notice that conquering grin that Cheyenne flashes to Ima before she brings him into a kiss.


	36. Eureka

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Pardon all mistakes. I'm glad you guys are still enjoying the story. Thanks for all the feedback, favorites, and follows. I'm currently working on mapping out the sequel FINALLY.

* * *

"What's the run?" Cheyenne asks as she walks into the bedroom. She crawls onto the bed mindful of the bag Jax is currently packing. He is leaving for an overnight night that all the guys are going on except for Piney.

"Blood drive for the children's hospital in Eureka." Jax tells her as he puts on his chain that contains a single bullet. The one she had gotten him for Christmas after he told her about his first kill. Her heart flutters at the fact he still wears that necklace.

"Well look at SAMCRO being community servants." Cheyenne says mockingly. She knows this isn't just a simple blood drive.

"It's what we are all about, baby," Jax states as he grins at her. Jax grabs her ankle and pulls her down to him as he leans down and places a kiss on her lips.

At this point, she thinks Jax lives in a perpetual horny state.

"Jax, don't start something you can't finish," Cheyenne mumbles against his lips.

"We got time," he tells her as he gropes her boobs. As soon as the words leave his mouth, Abel's cries echo through the house. "I didn't think I would raise such a cockblocker for a son."

"Jax," Cheyenne scolds.

He only chuckles as she nudges him off her.

"I'll go get him." Jax tells her. He places another kiss on her lips before he heads to get Abel.

Cheyenne leans up and eyes Jax's small riding bag. Sitting up fully, she eyes the bag and refolds the extra outfit he had packed. He really just stuffed them in. She really wonders how Jax had survived adulthood.

Jax walks in as she zips up his bag.

"Isn't your mommy the best?" He tells Abel. Jax comes closer as he wraps an arm around her shoulder as he brings her into his chest. "I mean it you are the best."

"Yeah, don't forget that." Cheyenne tells him.

Abel causes them both to laugh as he begins to try and wiggle his way towards her – specifically her breasts. "Someone's hungry."

"Like father like son." Cheyenne comments as she takes Abel.

Jax smiles as she watches Cheyenne and Abel leave.

This is his family.

Not his family bonded by a patch, but his family in flesh and blood.

One he created with a woman he loves.

He thought he really knew love when it was just he and Cheyenne. The thought of her round with his child. But he really knew what love was when he saw Cheyenne holding Abel for the first time. He never considered himself a family man. He toyed with the idea as his mom pushed the idea of settling down, but now he can't help but think he wants another kid sooner rather than later.

He slings his bag over his shoulder and grabs his kutte. He finds Abel already situated in his high chair with a banana. Cheyenne is picking up the thrown bottle on the floor. His son seems to prefer his milk to come directly from the source than through an artificial nipple.

"You leaving now?" Cheyenne asks.

Jax puts on his kutte, "Is someone going to miss me?"

"Yeah… Abel is."

Jax laughs knowing he had that reply coming. He gives his son a kiss on the top of his head. He inhales the scent of lavender from Abel's shampoo. Cheyenne claims it's calming for Abel. He leans back and plans to just give Cheyenne a kiss, but she surprises him as she stands and gives him a hug. He returns her hug tightly. "Chey, it isn't dangerous run."

It is not dangerous per say just a simple delivery of guns, of course there was always a threat of the ATF. But this is a standard routine run he has done countless times before.

"I can't help but worry. I always worry when you go on a run." Cheyenne mumbles as she runs a hand on his Vice President patch.

"It's nice to know you care," Jax teases her.

Cheyenne lightly shoves his shoulder, "Shut up."

Jax gives her smile before bending down and kissing her lips, "I love you."

Cheyenne gives him a tender smile, "I love you too."

The front door opens, "Ugh, gross!"

Cheyenne pulls back and rolls her eyes at her brother. "Haven't you heard of knocking?"

"Have you heard of locking your door?" Lip counters as he steps into the house with Isla following. Lip immediately beelines it to Abel and scoops him out of his high chair.

"Don't get him going, Lip, especially since you're leaving." She warns.

Lip tickles Abel's belly. "Mommy is such a buzzkill."

Cheyenne ignores her brother as she turns to her niece. With Lip going on the run, Isla is going to be staying with her.

The bruises have healed on Isla's face, but the young girl still hasn't said anything about the fight. Lip hasn't made any comments if Isla has been acting different. Yet, Cheyenne is worried about this one episode of violence.

Cheyenne wraps an arm around her niece and she is surprised that Isla leans into it.

…

Isla is holding her cousin as she watches with amused eyes her aunt and uncle practically make out. Her dad is making retching sounds before he begins slamming the horn on his bike.

"Enough you two! We're going to be late, Jax."

Her aunt and uncle finally separate and Uncle Jax flashes a smirk to her dad. Her aunt comes to stand next to her as they give one last wave.

Isla is actually glad her dad is going to be gone for a couple days. He has been insistent on trying to figure out what happened.

But for once in her life, she thinks it's better her dad doesn't know what happened. In fact, Isla barely knows what happened.

One minute she was outside practicing a new spin and the next she was being pushed over. She was being declared a race traitor like her father. That boy – Cliff – was telling her that if her dad didn't stop selling guns more people she loved were going to get hurt. She was going to get hurt.

Even though she is 10, Isla isn't ignorant of the world she lives in. She knows the lifestyle she is being raised in is different and rubs against the way most people live. She has known her dad and the men she considers uncles sell guns. She has known for a while. She has her mother to thank for that. After another argument and in a drunken haze, her mother had looked at her and told her all the sins, according to her mother, her dad committed and still does.

She knew that the word of a junkie usually holds no weight, but at the same time, these words were coming from her mother. Yes her mom was an addict, but at the same time, she feels as if her mother never strayed from the truth even if it meant isolating herself.

She knew her mother was speaking the truth as she told her how her dad sold guns. Knows her mother was right in saying that her father was a terrible husband, but somehow an outstanding father. She knows her mother meant it when she revealed that she was scared she would never leave Charming. Nina didn't want her to turn into what she had become. Didn't want her to be in a loveless marriage or tied down to a life that would suck the good out of her.

Her mother's words always stayed with her even after Nina had no recollection of it. It was her mother's words she was hearing as Cliff attacked her. Nina's and Cliff's words overlapping.

How can she tell her father that the reason she was attacked was because of the life he leads.

She hears her aunt sigh. It's weird to her. The dichotomy of all the women Isla has known in her life, but the simple thing that makes them all similar.

She can tell her aunt and Jax really love each other like Gemma and Clay. She imagines both of their relationships are similar in some aspects. Then there was her mom and Aunt Donna. Both turned into shells of their former selves.

She doesn't understand sometimes how these four women are going through the same things, but each reaction to it is vastly different.

"You talk your mom lately?"

Isla is taken back by the question. "No, she sent a letter after she left. But that was it."

Isla isn't too sure if she minds. As long as her mom is happy and sober, she finds that she can't be too upset. After all, she still has her dad.

…

This run to Eureka is clearly becoming the run to Hell. Lip isn't exactly sure what the fuck is going on, but his President and Vice President need to get their shit together.

Sure, the thing to Tig was a setback. Considering Tig was still alive Lip files it away as something minor. However, now that Tig has bounty hunters on his ass what Lip considered minor is now a very big problem. Especially considering the bed of illegal handguns they are hauling on the back of their bike.

He had thought the solution was simple. They had numbers and the element of surprise to easily take back Tig as pointed out by Jax. Clay, however, seemed to not see that simple fact. His main concern was the handguns.

Then things had escalated.

Jax and Clay had been snapping at each other all day like dogs. There were dirty looks and stunted silence. Lip compared it to what his once frigid marriage was like.

But things quickly got out of control once the pushing match almost started. Lip practically pushes Jax away from all their brothers as they go somewhere for privacy.

The cool and calm Jax that was swallowing his sister's tongue has disappeared.

"You want to tell me what the fuck is going on?" Lip asks.

He had thought whatever bullshit was going on between Jax and Clay would work itself out. It's one of the reasons he had decided to focus on Opie and make sure that all weapons with sharp edges were out of his reach. He is slightly pissed that the man is even on this run when he should be with his kids. But clearly, Lip was wrong.

"Nothing," Jax replies.

"Do I look like some dumb croweater?" Lip asks sarcastically.

"Father and son, bullshit."

Lip snorts. "Yeah, I'm not buying that _bullshit_."

"You can believe what you want." Jax says with a shrug of his shoulders.

Lip balls his fists. He forgot how much of a petulant teen Jax could be sometimes. So Lip decides to play dirty. "I'll sic Cheyenne on you if I have too."

Jax openly glares at him.

"Don't test me."

"There's nothing to say, Lip." Jax says as he digs for a cigarette.

…

Cheyenne walks into St. Thomas' chapel where she finds Unser sitting in a pew. She is slightly concerned as to why the Sheriff wants to see her. She only assumes the worst considering the boys are on a run.

"Unser?"

He looks apologetic. "Didn't mean to pull you away from anything."

"Is everything okay?" She asks concerned.

"It's about Gemma." He tells her.

"Something happen?"

"She's out of sorts." Unser starts. "Matter of time before she hurts someone, herself. But, not sure how to help her."

Cheyenne nods her head. She can only imagine what Gemma did today. "She has to talk to somebody about what happened. I've been trying to get her to do that, but she refuses."

Unser isn't surprised by that. "You know I've known her since she's 12. Heh, me and your mom the ones tried to talk her out of running away."

Cheyenne is surprised by that tidbit of information. Sometimes she forgets that her mom was born and raised in Charming like her.

"She split when she was 16." Unser adds. "Then when your mom turned 18, somehow she and Gem reconnected. Your mom met your Dad. Your mom made sure to keep in contact unlike Gemma. I received a lot of baby pictures of Lip, Jax, and Opie because of your mom."

"I didn't think my mom was the sentimental type." Cheyenne says truthfully. They barely had pictures of their parents now or even in their house when growing up. Her mom never seemed to remember any type of significant dates. "How long were they gone for?"

"You were about three or four when they came back. They were gone for like 10 years. Came back with a baby motorcycle club. Sort of like what you did, except without the baby and such." Unser tells her. "You don't remember much when you were little?"

Cheyenne shakes her head. "No not really."

"Yeah. Your mom from what little she talked about it was all very nomadic. I think it was actually her that really pushed for them to become more structure considering unlike Mary and Gem, she had two babies on her hip."

"Was that how she got hooked on drugs?"

"No," Unser says sadly. "That was after they made roots here for the club. You and Jax seem to be doing okay."

Cheyenne smiles. "Yeah, we're doing good. I'm whipping him into shape."

Unser chuckles, "Yeah. Not surprised you two are together. If anyone can handle Jax it's you."

"Don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing."

"Don't think on it too hard, doc. Come across something that don't make you miserable enjoy it."

…

"So I called Fawn."

Tig's eyes pop open as he eyes Lip. "Seriously?" Tig sits up from where he is lounging on the flat bed of the truck.

Lip throws him a burger. "Hey, we can't get ahold of Gemma and someone needed to know what was going on."

Tig sighs in resignation as he takes a big bite of his burger. He is not even sure if he is hungry. He eyes Lip dubiously. "You didn't tell her why though?"

Lip eyes him cautiously. "You think I'm going to scar Fawn with the fact her dad is into bestiality."

"Hey, I never fucked an animal." Tig declares. There were some lines that Tig wouldn't cross. "Although a cow may have gotten curious." He amends.

"That is so fucked up Tig."

Tig shrugs his shoulders. He's done things far worse. Besides, Oregon he remembers the hot little manager from that farm. A tall Latina with dark features and a fat ass, but said manager forgot to mention the fact that one of the sons who owned the farm had a thing for her too.

Tig looks back over to Lip, who is eating a fucking chicken sandwich. His eyes go down and he finds a water bottle. Fucking rabbit food.

He and Lip have never been close. He thinks they never will be, but he does appreciate what Lip does bring to the club. He appreciates that Lip does care and look out for Fawn. He knows if something ever happens to him or if the truth about Donna comes out, Fawn is going to need him.

Besides, seeing how Clay is beefing with Jax and purposely hurting his Vice President by pulling Opie closer, Tig doesn't want to create bigger distances between him and his brothers.

"Hey, man, thanks for looking out for Fawn." Tig says.

Lip raises an eyebrow. "You get shot or something."

"She…she's lucky to have you." Tig continues ignoring Lip's words.

"You know we ain't together." Lip tells him.

"Fawny…can be –"

"Stubborn."

Tig laughs. "Gets it from her mother."

"Nah, I think she gets it from you."

"Yeah that might be true." Tig agrees.

"Besides, she can do better than me Tig."

"Maybe." Tig says. "You love her."

"Enough to let her go."

…

After a very urgent phone call from a desperate and pleading Isla, Cheyenne had made the journey to _Heavenly Delights_ that was right on the edge of Charming to bring back some frozen yogurt for her niece. After all, it was the only frozen yogurt place in town. She thinks that the business would do better being on Main Street. However, she had noticed that some of the Mom and Pop stores have been going out of business.

She's driving down 18 and has noticed since she had left _Heavenly Creations_ that someone has been following her. She looks in her rearview at the stop sign and only can make out the outline of one man. Cheyenne looks forward and goes to press on the pedal when she is taken back by the car behind her ramming into her trunk. Her car jerks forward and the momentum causes her to lurch forward. She smacks her face off the steering wheel resulting in a split lip. Before she can get her bearings or realize that she is in the middle of the interaction. She is blinded by high beams and as she looks through her passenger window a truck is zooming down the lane.

Cheyenne screams as she presses on her gas pedal and she barely makes it, but the truck clips her back tire.

Cheyenne's Ford skids across the road. The car falls into an embankment. Thankfully, she didn't flip, but she winces as the seatbelt digs into her skin. She takes a shaky breath as she works to get out of her seatbelt. Cheyenne groans as she reaches over for her purse to grab her phone. Her phone isn't even in her purse, but had fallen to the floor. A moan of pain escapes her lips as she gingerly moves from the driver's seat to bend down to reach for her phone.

She doesn't hear the footsteps and when she gets back up, she screams at the sight of a bald Michael Myers mask.

She's unprepared for the passenger door to open as someone grabs her and throws her on the grab.

Cheyenne grunts as she lands hard on some rocks and twigs, but she easily gathers her bearings and stands as she looks at her two assailants.

She holds up her phone and opens it pressing and dials 911.

"Don't come any closer. I'm calling the cops." She warns as she presses call as she speaks.

"Next time you won't be so lucky." The man threatens and she spots a tattoo on the base of his throat. It looks like an upside down peace sign and she knows she seen it before. "Just ask Gemma Teller."

…

Cheyenne is sitting in back of the ambulance as the paramedics check her over. She just has some superficial wounds and bruising. Nothing life threatening.

Cheyenne thanks the paramedics as they back away as Unser approaches. Much to her relief, Unser was the one to respond to her 911 call after the men left. However, considering the guys are gone, Gemma was the one he called to come pick her up.

"You want to tell me what happened?" He asks softly as they watch Wade, a mechanic from TM, hook her car up to the tow truck. She isn't sure if she should salvage the car or just buy a new one.

Right now, officially, she was part of a hit and run. However, any decent investigator would see the other footprints that had followed her and her car down the embankment.

Cheyenne can't look at either Unser or Gemma. She knows what they wanted to do. What they were going to do to her. Cheyenne shakes her head. She knows not telling Gemma or Unser isn't going to help much. But right now, she needs to figure out what the hell she is going to tell Jax. It's going to be easy telling him that what happened was a hit and run, but keeping up the lie knowing how close it is to Gemma's is something she knows she might not be able to do.

"There were two men. They took off once I showed them the phone." She tells him.

"That's it?" Unser presses.

She nods her head. "They were wearing masks. I couldn't see their faces."

"What kind of masks?"

"Looked like Michael Myers. There wasn't any hair though. Can I go home? I need to see Abel."


	37. Smite

**Author's Note: Pardon all grammar and spelling errors. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Jax couldn't count down the seconds fast enough to get back to Charming. He really wanted to head straight to his house. He knows Cheyenne is home with Abel. Right now, for him, paradise is burying himself inside his Old Lady. He just needs Cheyenne. He wants her and he would prefer to isolate himself with just her and his son.

However, to maintain a united front, he follows the guys back to the clubhouse. He doesn't veer off. He stays in formation behind Clay. He fights the urge to run his stepfather down. After all, his President had casually threatened to murder him if he continues to press him on the fact he murdered Donna.

It's something he knows he will never forget. Something that he will keep in the back of his mind as long as Clay is President. The fact his stepfather said it will no hesitation also really shifted something in him. He knows Clay needs to be a cold and calculated man, but it made him wonder the lengths Clay has gone to in keeping whatever other secrets he has buried.

It made him think that maybe Lionel Henderson didn't just get murdered for being a junkie.

He pulls into his designated spot and finds as expected his mom waiting outside of the office. He gives Gemma a genuine smile. He has noticed since her car accident she has been acting different. Cheyenne labeled it as a mortal jolt. He is just hoping that whatever his mom is dealing with that she would eventually work through it.

As she greets Clay, he wonders what she would do if she knew that Clay had threatened to kill him. He notices that her welcoming of Clay is a little stiff. Yet, as she approaches him he can tell something is wrong.

"Hey, baby," she greets with a kiss to his cheek.

"Hey, Ma. How's Cheyenne and Abel?" She doesn't answer fast enough and his body stiffens. "What?"

"Cheyenne is fine, but she was rear-ended yesterday, baby."

Jax blinks then blinks. He eyes the lot and he spots her Ford. "She didn't fucking call me."

"She's fine, baby," Gemma soothes. "Just a few bumps and bruises. She's fine. I was with her last night. She didn't even need to go to the hospital."

All of that doesn't really help the swirl of emotions going through him. He ignores his mom calling out for him as he slaps on his helmet and peels off the lot.

…

Jax throws his bag on the floor of the foyer as he closes the door. He checks the guest room where Isla is still sleeping. Peeking in Abel's room, his boy is passed out.

Finally, he enters the bedroom where he finds Cheyenne tangled in the sheets.

Luckily there doesn't seem to be any bruises on her legs. He steps closer where he can get a better look at her face and he finds her a swollen bump on her head and her lip split and swollen.

"Jesus Christ."

Cheyenne's eyes pop open in a panic as she finds Jax hovering over her. She puts a hand to her chest. He can see the genuine fear that unsettles him.

"Christ, Jax."

"Why in the fuck didn't you call me?" He asks as he sits on the edge of the bed. She can tell he is angry at her, but the obvious concern is making him rein back the need to chew into her.

Cheyenne sits up gingerly. "I didn't want you to worry." She tells him. He was on a run and she didn't need him distracted. Besides, what happened could have been much worse.

"Well how did you think I would feel seeing your mangled car?" He retorts as his eyes trail her body. He cradles her face as he eyes the knot on her forehead, the split lip, the bruise across her collarbone from the seat belt, and of course the scraps from glass and twigs on her arms when she was dragged out of the car.

"It's from trying to get out of the car." She explains.

"They get the person?"

She shakes her head. "He hit me from behind. It all happened fast. Don't know who it was. Luckily, I didn't have Abel or Isla in the car."

That still doesn't make him feel better. "Jesus, Chey, between you and my mom…"

"Sorry?"

Jax sighs, but he delicately pulls her into his chest as he holds her. He presses a kiss to her head.

Cheyenne doesn't mean too. But the feel of Jax's arms, the warmth and comfort makes her break considering she is lying to him. Also, she was scared last night and the thought of those men wanting to rape her makes her stomach turn. It makes her hold Jax tighter as her tears start to fall.

…

"How's my sister?"

Jax and Lip are at the picnic bench on break eating their lunch. Cheyenne had packed Jax an 8 inch Italian sub, chips, apple slices, a granola bar, and even a fucking cookie. Lip on the other hand had packed himself a meager Caesar salad, an apple, carrots with mustard, and water. It still weirds Jax out that Lip is actually a crazy health nut considering how much the man can drink some days.

"She seems to be doing okay." Jax says. She has been acting a little jumpy. Lost in her thoughts. Almost reminds him of his mother these days, but she hasn't been distant. In fact, since her car accident a few days ago, somehow he finds her wrapped around him like a vine. It's almost like she doesn't want to let him out of her sight.

"That's good. Isla was feeling pretty bad for making her get the ice cream."

"No one could have known that was going to happen." Jax says.

"Yeah. What are you going to do about her Ford?"

"Told her we could just buy a new car. Not like we're exactly hurting for money. But she's fine in using the truck until then."

Lip nods his head, but their conversation comes to a halt as they watch Fawn pull into the lot. With Tig laid up for his leg, he has been practically torturing Half Sack when Fawn isn't here.

Jax thinks it's slightly weird seeing the two get along.

"Where are you with that?" Jax asks Lip.

"Nowhere. Better off as friends."

"You believe that shit?" Jax asks doubtfully.

"It's what I know."

…

Fawn shakes her head at the sight of her dad having Kip hand feed him grapes.

"Hey, Fawny." Tig greets.

"Dad. Kip." Fawn greets as she opens the bag of snacks and some medical equipment he needs. "Did you check your leg?"

"Sure did. I wasn't about to receive the Riot Act from Cheyenne."

"Scared of Cheyenne?" Fawn asks amused.

"You tend to listen to someone who knows there way around a knife." He replies flippantly.

"Well I have some good news," she tells him.

Her dad raises a black eyebrow.

"I had Precious, Bobby's ex-wife, boyfriend look you up in the system. I have an extensive list of all the bounties on your ass."

"Oh sweetie, you shouldn't have." Tig says with a smile.

"Yeah, I really shouldn't have." Fawn agrees. "Indecent exposure with livestock!"

Tig winces. "It's not what you think."

Fawn covers her ears. "Dad, please, I'm scarred as it is."

"Fair enough."

"But I made a list and of what you owe. So unless you pay them you need to keep your ass in Charming."

"Or I can just not make any trouble."

"You're not a forgettable face, Dad."

"Aww, thanks sugar."

"Dad."

"I promise, I'll behave." Tig promises as he crosses his fingers and makes an X above his heart.

…

"Good morning," Gemma greets walking into Jax's house. It had been a few days since the guys returned from the run and Cheyenne's attempted attack. She takes in the scene of Cheyenne looking like a modern day homemaker that causes her to smile. Gemma gets curious as to when her son plans to marry her.

"Morning," Cheyenne replies looking up at Gemma and gives her a smile. It doesn't hurt her lip too bad.

"Baby still sleeping?" Gemma asks walking into the pristine kitchen and takes a seat at the table.

"No, he is with Isla and Jax in the garage."

"Isla is here still?" Gemma asks.

Cheyenne places her rag in the sink and leans against the counter after rinsing her hands, "Yeah, we had another sleepover last night."

"You still that sore?" Cheyenne asks as she watches Gemma trying to get comfortable.

"Yeah, it's getting worse. I'm just so goddamn stiff."

"Are you dry?"

"Like the Mohave vagina. It's the stress. Your body isn't producing enough estrogen. I'll write you a prescription." Cheyenne informs her.

"And how are you doing?" Gemma asks as she eyes Cheyenne's healing wounds.

Cheyenne is saved from answering as Jax walks in followed by the kids.

"Hey Ma," he greets putting a box on the ground.

"Hey Gemma," Isla say, "Aunt Chey, I am going to play with Abel on the floor with his toys."

"Make sure you put the blanket down." Cheyenne advises.

"She is just too damn cute with him," Gemma comments at the sight of Isla and Abel. She knew Abel loved the attention just like Jax did when he was a baby.

"Hey you did you take a box from the garage?" Jax asks Cheyenne.

Cheyenne shakes her head, "No, I haven't touched anything in there from your side."

"I'm missing a box."

"I cleaned some shit out there a few weeks back when some of it fell down." Gemma reveals.

"Well where is it?" Jax questions.

"Tossed it. They were just rags. Why? What are you looking for?" Gemma says looking from Cheyenne to Jax. She knows he is looking for his father's manuscript, and is relieved from the expression of Cheyenne's face this is something she didn't know or seen.

"An old Harley manual, hard to find."

"Sorry."

…

One minute, Cheyenne was explaining the prescription and how to apply it to Gemma and then the next Gemma was chasing some blonde. Then Cheyenne was the one to get her nose busted. Cheyenne was sure she was looking rather lovely considering she was still banged up from the car accident.

Thankfully, Gemma didn't break her nose or worse blow her head off. Cheyenne also knows that Gemma's reluctance to talk has gone too far. Unser was right that Gemma was going to hurt someone from her pent up feelings.

Cheyenne makes a quick detour to the psych department. After pressing Dr. Lich that her friend needs full anonymity, she had secured an appointment for Gemma. The least Gemma could do was go to one session.

She finds her mother in law in the dim lite chapel of the hospital. Gemma is sitting alone deep in though.

"I guess I'm lucky you didn't blow my head off." Cheyenne starts with as she heads to sit in the same pew as Gemma. Gemma winces as she wrings her hands together. "You okay? That running couldn't have felt good."

"I'm fine." Gemma insists.

Cheyenne bites her lip. "Who was the girl?"

Gemma looks at her, but doesn't answer.

Cheyenne exhales an angry breath. "Jesus Christ, Gemma. You need to talk to someone."

Gemma keeps her eyes forward on the cross that dominants the room. "I know what it's like to keep something like this inside."

Gemma eyes her. "The car accident."

Cheyenne shakes her head. She knows the car accident pales in comparison as to what happened to Gemma. "Back in college," Cheyenne begins. "I had a mentor…who liked me." Cheyenne says hesitantly. "He…he…"

"Raped you?" Gemma concludes.

"It never got that far." Cheyenne tells her. "But it was close."

"You're talking about that doctor that was here. Calvin?" Gemma deduces.

"Yeah, he was a teacher and a colleague."

"Does Jax know?" Gemma asks.

Cheyenne nods her head. "I had to tell someone. I knew it would eat me up if I didn't."

"What did Jax do?" Gemma inquires. Gemma knows her son and he wouldn't let any man walk scot free from hurting the woman he loves.

"There was nothing he could do." Cheyenne lies. She can't tell Gemma the truth because this needs to stay between her and Jax. Besides even with Calvin dead and gone, she had to be the one to heal her emotional wounds. Jax couldn't do that for her. She had to do that herself. "My point is you need to get this thing out of your head before you kill someone, or get yourself killed. I made an appointment for you. Dr. Lich. She's a friend. She's easy to talk to."

"Why can't I talk to you?" Gemma says offended.

"Because you're not even doing that now. You're gonna talk to her, or I'm gonna tell Hale you assaulted me. Throw your crazy ass in jail." Cheyenne jokes.

Gemma reluctantly agrees. "What you're doing for me, for the club, means a lot."

"Gemma, you don't need to thank me." Cheyenne insists. They are family.

"Sometimes you remind me of your mom." Gemma reveals. "She was a good friend…before the drugs. You have her smile."

A lump forms in Cheyenne's throat at the mention of her mom. She stands up from the bench. "You still have to see the shrink. Main level, room 114."

"Yes, ma'am."

…

After leaving Gemma in the chapel, Cheyenne had punched in for work. She is standing at the Nurse's Station signing a few papers that need to be filed.

"If you need to speak with someone, file a report, you can take –"

Cheyenne looks up confused at the sudden appearance of Margaret Murphy, "Why would I want to do that?"

"I know your boyfriend is part of the motorcycle gang here." Margaret replies as she eyes her bruised nose and healing wounds from the car accident.

"Club." Cheyenne corrects as she stuffs her hands in her lab coat. "It's a motorcycle club."

"Right," Margaret replies inconvincibly. "Well, I hope the club doesn't become a problem."

Now Cheyenne is insulted. Since she started at St. Thomas she has never let her personal life bleed onto her work. "My personal life has nothing to do with the hospital."

"I know. But when that personal life hits you in the face hard enough, can't help but impact your work, and then it does become the hospital's problem." The red headed administrator replies.

…

"So do I need to convince you immediate retaliation is a bad thing for the club?" Jax asks Lip.

Jax had tracked down Lip, who is sitting at a softball practice for Isla. Jax wonders where Isla gets the time to even be involved in all these sports and activities.

"Maybe." Lip replies. "After all, this isn't just about Otto for me."

Jax bites his lip. The club had done nothing for the school brawl that happened between Isla and AJ Weston's son. Jax knows that there is some repressed rage that this Weston and Zobelle have possibly turned into a much better threat. Yet, considering that, Jax knows they need to be smart and not reactive.

"We haven't come across a player like Zobelle. He's smart and has connections." Connections that got him to be able to take out Otto's eye.

"I know that, but he if can bleed we can kill him and Weston." Lip replies.

Jax sighs. He decides to switch tactics. "You need to think about Isla, Abel, and Cheyenne. We do something too hasty and they could get hurt."

He sees the subtle clench of Lip's jaw. "You're the only parent Isla has, Lip. I know you're angry. I know, but I don't want to lose you to jail or something else. I love Otto and want to give him his eye back, but I don't want to lose my club or my brothers."

"And if I vote on this with you…you going to tell me what's going on between you and Clay?"

"Jesus, Lip, you're like a dog to a bone." Jax mutters.

"You want me to back you – trust you – but you can't even give me a straight answer about what's going on. The club can see something is up. I'm supposed to trust you two, but you two aren't even on the same page." Lip points out.

Jax purses his lips. He knows that Lip is still hurting from the reveal of Clay being the one to murder Lionel. Knows that Lip is pulling away from the man he considered a dad. Jax knows that if he tells the truth as to why he and Clay are at odds it might push Lip over an edge he won't come back from.

"When we do retaliate, I kill Weston." Lip says.

"He's all yours." Jax promises.

…

Jax almost feels like a hypocrite for the brawl with Weston in his crew, which resulted in a warning for public disturbance. In hindsight, Jax did exactly what he doesn't want the guys to do in leading a hasty attack against the League for retaliation for Otto. All that happened this time was his bike being pushed over.

However, he is curious about Hale's sudden switch in behavior with giving him and Clay a tip on the tainted land deal his brother was trying to do. Honestly, thinking about the League and all the shit that has happened with them, he wishes Opie was here to help guide him. Be a voice of reason and rational because it seemed no one else in the fucking club was able to think brains before bullets. Well besides Lip, who thankfully wasn't a part of this brawl. And Jax knows that yes the League needs to face some sort of retaliation for what they had done to his club, but he wanted his club to be smart about it.

However, for the time being, Jax has some more pressing matters to deal with. Jax decides to hand home as he still hasn't seen Cheyenne since Piney informed him that there was an incident between her and his mom.

Red flags were going on in his head because Cheyenne and his mom never had a problem or one that he was aware of. So he is extremely worried how Cheyenne would end up with a busted nose.

Pulling into the driveway, he finds his truck in the driveway and he enters the house.

"Cheyenne?" He calls out waiting to hear a response, but is only met with a still silence. Panic briefly quickens his heart. "Cheyenne!" He shouts as he checks the kitchen and into the living room finding it empty. He walks down the hallway about to head into their bedroom when he stops short as he sees her sleeping on the day bed in Abel's room.

He frowns as he doesn't think Abel is home and he checks the crib, which is empty. His frown deepens more when he kneels down and takes in the sight of her busted nose. He wants to let her rest, but he wants to know what happened even more.

"Cheyenne," he whispers as he rocks her gently. He is rewarded with a moan of annoyance as she buries herself into the bed more. He shakes her more firmly and this time it has her grey eyes popping open. "Hey," he whispers and gives her a smile.

She looks at him tiredly and her eyes scan the room before landing back on him. "Did Neeta bring Abel back?"

He shakes his head. "I just got home." She leans up and places her feet on the ground and runs a hand through her hair and he watches her wince most likely feeling the tenderness of her wound. "You want to tell me what happened?"

"I came up behind your mom, startled her." She tells him and Jax can't help, but feel there is more to the story. He knows that his mom has been jumpy lately, but a type of wound like that comes from a solid shot to the face. "You know full disclosure works both ways." He tells her as he sits down.

"I know." She tells him with a sheepish smile, but winces. "But this is the truth. You want to tell me what happened with Otto or the brawl on Main Street?"

Jax gives her his own sheepish smile as he leans back onto the couch. His hands find purchase in her hair before he eventually coaxes her to lay down as he tucks her into his side.

"Otto was attacked by the League."

"League?" Cheyenne questions and it is then Jax realizes he hasn't told her about the new threat in Charming or well the whole backstory after he initially brushed it off when Isla got into the fight.

"There is some new player, Zobelle, coming after the club. Leader of the Neo-Nazis apparently."

"The guy that owns the cigar shop?" She questions.

"Yeah," Jax confirms. "I don't want you near there, Chey."

Cheyenne nods against his chest. "What does he want?"

Jax's fingers still in her head as he honestly doesn't know what exactly Zobelle wants outside of just destroying the club. He's not entirely sure what the man's motive's is besides just wanting to watch the club burn. "Besides folding this charter, I honestly don't know, but he's shown interest in the gun business. Wants us to _stop selling to color_ was what he said."

Cheyenne extracts herself from him and he watches as she traps her bottom lip between her teeth as she seems to be contemplating something.

"What is it?"

"Where is all this going to go?" She questions.

"What do you mean?"

"We have a son, Jax." Cheyenne looks over to the empty crib. "I can't I can't shake this feeling that something bad is gonna happen to him, to us. I just don't know how to live with that." She reveals to him.

"Wait here. I wanna show you something." Jax moves off the daybed as he heads in their bedroom. He comes back with the manuscript Piney had given him at Donna's funeral. "My dad wrote this before he died. It's his vision for the club. And what went wrong and how to save it." He heads her the leather bound manuscript. She takes it gently as her fingers run over the Reaper emblem on the binding. "I'm gonna get us out of all of those things that you're afraid of." He promises.


End file.
